My Turn To Shine
by Junior BLD
Summary: Two kids from other worlds are invited to the Smash tournament. But, when their closest allies go missing, these interdimensional defenders have to learn to trust new friends to save their old ones. With their numbers dwindling, can the Smashers stop the rising darkness and save their worlds? And Can Junior and Anti-Junior keep their powers safe from evil?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi! Thanks for giving this story a chance.**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my original characters.**

"Angel! Angel! You've gotta come see this!" I cried, running down the hall to my sister's room.

My sister dropped the toys she was playing with and followed me out to the living room. "What?" she asked, her eyes round with curiosity, as if she were expecting some magic.

"Look how big it is now!" I exclaimed, lightly shoving her towards the two-foot clock tower that was currently under construction.

Angel gasped in wonder. "That's so cool! Is it almost done?" she asked, glancing at the huge, green tub of Legos on the floor beside the structure.

"Almost," I answered, pulling the instruction booklet towards me, "Just a few more pieces."

Eyes narrowed, I gazed at the box of Legos, willing the little colorful bricks to rise into the air and fit themselves onto the tower. The first time I tried to lift something with my mind, I gave myself a minor headache, but after long hours of practice, telekinesis, along with certain other abilities, had pretty much become second-nature.

"Junior! You can't use your powers to make that!" Angel cried. "That's cheating!"

"No it's not," I said, magically removing a few more clusters of Legos from the box. But then, a tingling started in my chest, which immediately made me see sense. Maybe she was right.

Over the past hour, I had assembled most of the two thousand Legos, and my powers sped up the process significantly. But, I had to be careful. The more energy I used, the easier it was to lose the source of my powers; the sphere of light inside my heart.

"Aww… Guess I'll have to finish it by hand…" I muttered, grabbing the pieces out of the air. It was a good thing that nothing needed my attention in other universes so I could take the time to build it.

The ounce of truth that statement contained was shredded sooner than I thought.

I was just about to attach the very top of the tower, when suddenly, an electric blue portal exploded to life in the middle of the room.

Angel screamed in alarm. Instinctively, I jumped to my feet and clenched a fist, preparing to face whatever monster or enemy came through the vortex.

In a split second, a giant, white, floating hand shot out towards me! "Junior! You're coming to the Smash mansion! No questions!"

Before my mind could register what was going on, the giant hand yanked me off my feet and pulled me through the portal, demolishing my clock tower in the process. The last thing I heard was my sister's cry of alarm before the blue light absorbed me, taking me to another world.

My entire body tensed as power hummed around me. The force was so strong I couldn't open my eyes. It was like floating in the middle of a massive windstorm. In all the commotion, my brain lingered on two words the hand said. 'Smash Mansion'.

Moments later, the energy stopped, and my feet landed hard on the ground. The hand released me and I lowered my arms, which I had crossed over my heart to protect my power light. I breathed deeply, taking in gulps of air as if the oxygen would calm my pounding heart.

When I regained my wits, I opened my eyes and saw another giant hand floating in the room, as if he had been expecting me. My jaw dropped as I recognized the two well-renowned hosts of every amazingly epic Smash tournament ever created.

Master Hand looked at his twin and spoke, clearly annoyed. "Ugh! I said don't get too crazy, Crazy!"

Crazy Hand merely shrugged, his massive fingertips bobbing up and down. "Oh, come on! The kid's here now, isn't he?" he retorted.

Master Hand sighed at his brother's indifference and turned to me. "He didn't interrupt you in the middle of something too important, did he?"

"No, it's fine," I answered, though a thought of my clock tower flashed into my mind. And my sister. I'd have to tell her and my mom where I was. Well, at least I hadn't been snatched away during a battle with one of my enemies.

Master Hand exhaled with relief. "That's good," he said.

"Well, my work here is done! I have other things to do!" Crazy Hand said gleefully, and zoomed out of the room.

"Crazy Orders," Master Hand muttered with a sigh.

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, it's a new event for our upcoming Smash tournament. You know about that, right?"

"The tournament? Yeah!" I answered, my excitement growing. I had heard about past tournaments from veteran Smashers, and it sounded like this one was going to be the biggest one yet. "What about it?"

"Well, tonight's the opening ceremony," Master Hand said, "but we're still waiting for your friend, so when he comes, I'll tell you the rest."

"Oh, Anti-Junior's coming, too?" I asked, wondering how long I'd have to wait before hearing what Master Hand had to say.

"He should be. I invited him."

Anticipation brimming, I turned towards the swirling vortex behind me. A moment later, the shadow of a figure appeared in the light, and a kid my age walked through the portal.

"Hello, Anti-Junior! Glad you could make it!" Master Hand greeted as my super-powered friend stepped forward.

"Thanks!" Anti-Junior said, running a hand over his spiky, black hair. Then he noticed me. "Hey, Junior! You're here, too!"

"No! I'm just an illusion reaching out to you from the edge of space!" I joked.

Anti-Junior laughed. "So, I take it you were invited here, too."

Though I wouldn't consider a giant hand grabbing me and forcing me through a portal necessarily inviting me, I nodded.

Then, Master Hand cleared his throat. "…So, as you already know, a new Smash tournament is about to begin,"

Anti-Junior and I leaned forward, eager to hear what the master had to say.

"Tonight's the opening ceremony. This tournament is going to be a pretty huge deal! Many Smashers from distant worlds are gathering for this event, and…" Master Hand hesitated, choosing his next words carefully. "It would be an honor if you would attend the ceremony."

My friend and I traded hopeful glances. We didn't even have to consider our response. Master Hand may as well have asked us to take the rest of the school year off, or enjoy an all-you-can-eat dessert buffet. "We'll do it!" Anti-Junior and I agreed, beaming with enthusiasm.

"Excellent! That's just what I wanted to hear!" Master Hand exclaimed. "The ceremony will start in about twenty minutes, so we should head to the main hall. If you'd follow me, please..." With that, the giant hand hovered towards the exit.

Anti-Junior looked at me, and his grin faltered somewhat. "Aw man, for a second I thought Master Hand was going to ask us to join the tournament," he whispered.

"Oh, I know, right?" I agreed. "But the invites for the tournament were given out at least two months ago."

"Yeah," Anti-Junior acknowledged gloomily.

"Are you two coming?" Master Hand asked patiently, floating out in the hall. If he had heard us, he gave no indication.

"Oops! Sorry!" I said, somewhat startled, and we hurried after the giant hand.

As Master Hand took us through the mansion, he explained some of the more notable amenities. "Here's the training room, and down that hall is the game room. The gardens are also nice this time of year…"

My friend and I could easily see that this was the perfect place for the tournament, and it was pretty cool to learn about the mansion, but part of me wondered why the master was telling us all this if we were only staying for a few hours.

Eventually, we came to a set of large double doors penetrated by the sounds of celebration beyond. "Here we are," Master Hand said. He waved in front of the doors, and they slowly opened, revealing a massive chamber!

The main hall was well lit, not too formal, and filled with a flurry of activity. Excited chatter could be heard everywhere, and the aromas of many different foods filled the air.

Hundreds of humans and other creatures sat at tables or wandered the room, talking with friends or meeting new people. Just seeing some of them again stirred up memories of previous adventures we had shared; stopping the Chaos Heart from destroying the Mushroom Kingdom, saving Hyrule from Ganondorf's wrath, rebuilding a spaceship bound for Hocotate…

"Are all these people in the tournament?" Anti-Junior asked, staring in awe.

"Not all of them," Master Hand answered, "Some are just helping out." With a massive white finger, he motioned to Lyn, Isabelle, Shadow, and Tingle, who, along with many other assistants, were serving food to tournament participants.

"Well," Master Hand said, "Feel free to have something to eat and take a seat. I'm sure some friends of yours will be excited to see you! We'll get started in a few minutes, so make yourselves comfortable." The master gave us an encouraging thumbs-up and flew away to another part of the main hall.

Immediately, we felt lost in the sea of activity. Everything was so busy, and for a second we stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. The party looked awesome, but we didn't know where to start.

Mario and Luigi sat at one table with Sonic and Pac-Man, while Link conversed with Marth and Ike. All of the Pokeman were together, waiting for Red to get them something to eat. Meanwhile, Yoshi and Kirby devoured everything at the buffet table, and the assistants had to get more food for everyone else.

Across the room, Ganondorf shared a table with Wolf, king Dedede, and a few other villains, their heads bent low and close to one another, as if they were plotting something. Bowser and his eight koopalings had a table to themselves, but they were still engaged in conversation with the other villains.

"We could sit over there," Anti-Junior suggested, pointing to a round table near the front of the hall. Its only occupant was a blonde swordsman in a dark red coat, another familiar face.

"Shulk!" I called as we walked up to the table. "Is it okay if we sit here? Everywhere else is pretty much full."

"Go for it," Shulk replied.

"Thanks," we said, and sat down across from him.

Shulk nodded, and started on his food. "That alien army hasn't attacked you again, has it?" he asked between bites of chicken.

"Nothing we couldn't handle," I answered. Then another past battle flashed into my mind. "That metal monster. Has it shown its face since we fought it together?"

Shulk shook his head. "Nothing," he answered with satisfaction.

I smiled, then leaned back in my chair and took in the scene all around me. It was good to see some familiar faces, but there were also those who I didn't recognize.

"Hey. Who are those two?" I murmured, pointing to the other occupants of Link's table. One was a girl who looked almost like Marth, and the other was a guy in black robes whose face was hidden behind a book. Like Marth and Ike, both wielded swords, and I wondered if they all were from the same universe.

At another table, a tall lady with long black hair was talking to a short boxer with green gloves. R.O.B stood at the back wall with a short, blue robot, and an angel who could have passed as Pit's evil twin sat at a nearly empty table, his arms crossed and a scowl etched on his face, despite the festivity all around him.

The excited squeals of Lumas and Pikmin eating star bits and drinking nectar drifted over from a few tables away. Rosalina and Olimar chatted with one another, and Peach and Zelda joined the conversation once in a while.

But then, at the front of the room, Master Hand raised himself up and signaled for silence. In a few seconds, the excited chatter of the Smashers and assistants died down to whispers as they waited for the master to speak. But, where was Crazy Hand?

"Welcome everyone!" Master Hand greeted the lively gathering. The Smashers and assistants burst into an explosion of applause and cheers. However, Master Hand raised himself to command silence once more. "First an announcement. I know we were supposed to start at six, but we have some late arrivals who will be participating in this tournament, so we'd like to give them a chance to get comfortable."

I didn't think anything of this, but the whispers that circulated around the room suggested that the Smashers felt otherwise. I looked at Anti-Junior, wondering if he knew what was happening, when Master Hand answered our questions for us.

"Originally, the tournament roster was predetermined, but due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, we have a few last minute entries," the giant hand explained, "So, now I'll introduce our newest Smashers!"

Whispers increased momentarily among the Smashers as they awaited the revelation of their newest competitors.

"First up… Mewtwo!"

The room echoed with shouts and applause as the catlike psychic Pokémon hovered through the double doors and took his place next to Lucario.

"He was in the Melee tournament, wasn't he?" Anti-Junior asked.

"Yeah," I answered, nodding.

Then, Master Hand introduced the next Smasher. "Lucas!"

More cheers erupted from the anxious crowd for another Smash veteran, this time from the Brawl tournament. The timid blonde boy looked around the room, then hurried over to where Ness waited with the other kids.

"He and I practice PSI together sometimes." Anti-Junior whispered. "Glad he's here!"

"Roy!" Master Hand boomed.

This time, Marth's table cheered the loudest as the red-haired swordsman strolled confidently into the main hall. Marth stood to welcome his friend to their table as well as to the tournament.

As Roy sat down, he looked at me, and his face brightened. "Junior! Are you in the tournament as well? Did the hands finally give you an invite?"

"I wish!" I said simply, crossing my arms.

All the hope drained from the other nobles' faces, replaced with disappointment. But, before they could express it further…

"Ryu!"

A muscular guy in a white fighter's uniform strode into the room amid more applause and screams. "So this is Smash," he said, and joined the boxer and the exercise coach's table.

The Smashers cheered and clapped for this newcomer just as enthusiastically as for Roy or Lucas, but I had a feeling that this was Ryu's first encounter with any of these people.

Master Hand waited until the room quieted down before announcing the next combatant.

"Cloud!"

All eyes flicked to the doors again as a blonde, spiky-haired newcomer with an indigo uniform and huge sword entered the room.

I turned to Anti-Junior. "Do you know him?"

My friend shrugged. "No, but then again, I don't know half the people here."

"Good point," I agreed, and we waited for Master Hand to call the next Smasher.

"Corrin!"

A blonde swordsman with a light blue cape and silver armor strode into the hall. I didn't know why, but something about him reminded me of a dragon. Maybe it was the fire in his eyes? Corrin looked around, then took his place with Marth, Roy, and the others, claiming the last spot at their table.

When the applause died down again, Master Hand spoke. "I hope you'll try and welcome these late arrivals, whether veterans or newcomers. We'll allow them to get settled, and then we'll begin the opening ceremony for the Smash tournament!" With that, Master Hand floated away to the loudest applause yet.

"Wow! Six unexpected Smashers! This should be interesting!" I remarked.

My friend simply nodded.

The excitement of the party doubled now that the hands had made their announcement, and the new arrivals were getting a lot of attention from the others. Master Hand and Crazy Hand were hanging out with all of us as well, making conversation with the Smashers and assistants.

But, something Anti-Junior said made me slightly uneasy. The fact that we didn't know some of the people here meant that we couldn't reveal our powers to them. Since we didn't know what worlds some of these fighters were from, and what enemies they fought, it was better for our true abilities to remain a secret for now.

A few minutes later, Anti-Junior and I got in line for some food. However, we found ourselves faced with some pretty tough choices. The buffet table was laden with enough delicious dishes to give anyone indecision. Steak, soup, pasta, hamburgers, chicken, and pizza were neatly arranged on platters along with potatoes, fries, salad, buttered rolls, and cheesy bread. At the end of the long table were giant pretzels, ice cream, pie, popcorn, chips, and many other delectable snacks and desserts.

Each of the Smashers had added their touches as well. Villager brought apples, cherries, and other fresh fruits from his town, and the Ice Climbers had gathered some of the vegetables. Peach and Rosalina had baked mushroom and star cake and cookies. A Mii brought out more bottles of Lon-Lon and Smash milk, as well as fruit juice and sodas, as if we needed the extra energy.

Our plates overflowing with goodies, Anti-Junior and I had barely sat down when a barrage of loud pops sounded at the back of the hall! We turned to see Pit, Ness, and Toon Link, all of whom had mischievous looks on their faces. Crazy Hand was hovering nearby, which couldn't be good.

"You want to go see what's going on over there?" Anti-Junior asked, hinting that he wasn't the one who wanted to do it.

I laughed a little. "Uh, no! I already had to deal with Crazy Hand once today!"

"All right, I'll be back," my friend said casually. He set his fork down and dashed over to the table where the other kids were sitting to see what all the commotion was about, and maybe join in.

I had eaten only a few bites when someone else joined the table. To my surprise, Cloud sat down a few places away, throwing me a curious glance before starting on his food.

"Hi!" I greeted nervously. Cloud gazed at me for a moment, and I thought I caught a hint of recognition in his eyes, but I didn't know how that was possible considering he never met me before.

"You're fighting, too?" he asked.

Shulk, who hadn't heard my answer the first time, perked up with interest.

"Nope. Just here for the ceremony," I answered, looking down at my food again.

"You're not participating?" Shulk asked with disbelief.

Just then, Bowser Jr, who happened to be going for seconds and had heard our conversation, decided to give his input. "That's right!" the Koopa kid said loud enough for half the main hall to hear. "Junior's not joining because he's afraid he'll lose his precious pow-!"

I turned around and glared sharply at the Koopa kid, almost daring him to keep talking. In a split second, Bowser Jr stopped speaking and ran half the distance back to his dad, knocking over Charizard's Super-spicy Curry on the way.

Sighing with relief, I turned back to the others at the table. A few newcomers threw me curious glances, but I couldn't worry about that. One more syllable out of Bowser Jr.'s mouth and Anti-Junior and I would have had a problem.

"Is that why you couldn't join?" Shulk wondered. "Because of the villains?"

I thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain. "Sort of… I didn't get an invite. Plus I have to watch out for… Well, you understand."

Shulk nodded, indicating that he did indeed understand. However, Cloud's voice caught me by surprise. "…For your light?" he asked quietly.

My eyes widened. "Wait. You know?" I questioned, wondering if I had heard correctly. Did Cloud know that I was one of two universe protectors in charge of keeping order in the cosmos? And if he already knew, then were their others here who possessed this knowledge?

Cloud's mouth tightened when he realized his mistake. But, his voice remained calm and level. "I just-"

"Junior! Guess what!" Anti-Junior ran up to our table, his face aglow with excitement. "Crazy Hand is setting off mini fireworks in the back of the hall!"

"No way! Really?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder, momentarily forgetting why I had been so cautious.

But, just then, Master Hand's voice rang out through the hall, calling the gathering to attention. Those who were wandering around immediately sat down and all eyes turned to the front of the room. Master Hand and Crazy Hand now hovered next to each other. Silence hung in the air like a cloud as we waited for the opening ceremony to officially begin.

Crazy Hand was first to address the crowd. "Is everyone having a crazy time?" he shouted, his voice echoing off the walls.

All of us cheered and clapped as loud as we could, but Crazy Hand wasn't satisfied. "I'm sorry. I can't hear you! Let's try again!" the giant, overly hyper hand encouraged. "Is everyone ready for the most legendary tournament of all time that is Smash?"

Everyone shouted even louder than before, clapping and stomping in appreciation. When the noise died down, Master Hand continued where Crazy Hand left off.

"All right! First, we'd like to thank all of the assistants and Miis for making this event possible for us." There was more scattered applause and Master Hand launched into an explanation on how the tournament would be run. "Matches will be decided at random! Combatants will each participate in a predetermined number of matches in which points are scored based on how well they do. The participant with the highest number of points at the end of the tournament will be declared the winner and will be awarded the Smash cup!"

"Wow!" Anti-Junior and I yelled as we clapped and cheered along with the rest of the Smashers. This tournament was going to be amazing! Just being there to watch would be the chance of a lifetime!

A fire of excitement and enthusiasm increased every second as the hands addressed the twists and turns they had thrown into this particular tournament. My hands ache from clapping so much, and the good food would have made me drowsy if not for the sheer exhilaration in the room. Finally, there was one more deafening roar of applause from the crowd, and the hands faced them once more.

"Well, that concludes our opening ceremony!" Master Hand said, making to dismiss the large gathering, "Be sure to-!"

"HEY! HEY! HEY! Aren't you forgetting something?" Crazy Hand asked importantly, overpowering the tremendous noise in the room. At once, the crowd fell silent, staring curiously at the two giant hands.

"Oh, am I?" Master Hand asked, his voice tinged with amusement. He waited a moment as if he were thinking. "Oh yes! That's right! I remember now!" Though he maintained a level tone, I knew the master was getting excited about something, but before I could figure out why, he spoke again. "To conclude this ceremony, Junior and Anti-Junior will now say a few words to all of us!"

My stomach did a flip-flop and I almost choked on my chocolate-covered pretzel. Anti-Junior nearly shot his orange soda across the table. They couldn't be serious! No one had said anything about giving speeches!

"This is just one of Crazy Hand's jokes, right?" Anti-Junior asked, apparently thinking, or rather hoping, the same thing I was.

"Of course it's not!" Crazy Hand blurted out, and zoomed over to where we were sitting. "Up you get!"

Realizing we had no choice, Anti-Junior and I reluctantly stood and made our way to the front of the hall, our footsteps echoing on the wooden floor. I felt the weight of at least eighty pairs of eyes on us, and after what seemed like a minute, we reached the hands. Slowly, we turned to face the gathering.

My heart hammered like crazy inside my chest. What were they expecting from us? I quickly turned to the hand on my left. "What are we supposed to say?" I whispered urgently.

"Oh, whatever comes to mind!" Crazy Hand said, unable to conceal the note of amusement in his voice. Then, to our horror, the hands soared away, leaving the two of us alone at the front of the hall.

To my right, Anti-Junior elbowed me in the ribs. "What are they thinking?" he hissed. "They may as well just announce us as the universe protectors!"

"Do you think it's too late to come up with a way out of this?" I asked in a hushed tone, trying to lighten the mood.

"Unfortunately, yes," Anti-Junior answered. There was nothing more to be done. We couldn't keep the audience waiting any longer.

"Um…" I stammered, addressing the crowd. "So, we… were uninformed of this until literally a few seconds ago… so, um…"

"And we… don't know why we were picked in the first place…" my friend added.

Some of the Smashers smiled encouragingly. Others gave us their polite attention. On the far side of the room, the villains traded amused grins, clearly enjoying our struggle. Each of the newcomers watched with curiosity, their eyes focused solely on my friend and me.

However, just then, Master Hand and Crazy Hand soared back over to us, easing the tension and awkwardness a little. Though Anti-Junior and I were pretty relieved that they had rejoined us, we were also somewhat puzzled.

"Um, I thought we were supposed to give some speech or something…" Anti-Junior said.

"We do want you to say a few words," Master Hand confirmed, and he and Crazy Hand passed each of us a sealed envelope.

"What's this?" Anti-Junior asked, staring down at his envelope as whispers from the Smashers penetrated the silence.

I looked at my letter, which was adorned with the Smash symbol in brilliant, shiny gold. Maybe what the hands wanted us to say was inside? Not knowing what else to do, Anti-Junior and I slowly opened our envelopes.

A gasp in the audience caused me to look up. Roy nudged Marth and pointed at the envelope I held, both faces shining with excitement. Shulk, Rosalina, Samus, and a few others now looked hopeful, and started whispering among their tables. However, most of the others seemed oblivious as to why the envelopes were so interesting.

A sudden shout from Anti-Junior tore my mind away from what the Smashers were doing. "Hey! This isn't a speech!"

"Then what is it?" I asked, hurrying to open my letter.

"We just want you to answer a very important question," Master Hand said.

I nodded, skimming the paper in my hands. I had only read the first few words when everything became clear. My nervousness and puzzlement melted away, and happiness sprung up from the ashes! It was as if Christmas had come early!

"No way! No way! Oh my goodness! This can't be real!" I screamed with delight.

"I don't believe this!" Anti-Junior shouted, excitement spilling over like water over a dam. He glanced from me back down to his letter, unable to do or say much else.

Then, a shout from the audience brought me back to reality. "Well? Don't keep us in suspense!" Fox exclaimed. "What is it?"

But I didn't know how to tell them. It all seemed like a very vivid dream, but it had to be real.

"They're obviously too stunned to tell you, so we'll take care of that for them!" Crazy Hand exclaimed, almost exploding with excitement himself!

Master Hand turned to us. "Junior, Anti-Junior," he said, loud enough so that every single person in the large chamber could hear. "Some of these Smashers would consider it the highlight of this tournament if you two were to participate." Then, in order to penetrate the sudden outbreak of noise from the audience, the hand spoke louder and clear than before. "Will you join them?"

At that moment, a bombardment of cheering, screaming, and clapping crashed over us like an ocean wave! Those who knew us were the most ecstatic of all, and their chant reverberated off the walls. "Smash! Smash! Smash!" More audience members took up the call, not only to persuade us to accept the invitation, but to show their spirit for the tournament.

The outbreak of enthusiasm was almost too much to believe, and suddenly, Anti-Junior and I didn't care about anything else. It didn't matter if we were scared. It didn't matter if we didn't know half the participants and what worlds they came from. For that moment, we didn't care what challenges, what new enemies waited for us. We'd figure out a way to overcome them. But, we weren't going to miss this golden opportunity.

"Yes!" Anti-Junior and I answered in unison.

The hands seemed pleased to hear this. "Excellent!" Crazy Hand cried with glee. "But, I don't believe they heard you!" he said, signaling out to the crowd of Smashers. "Let's try that again!"

Master and Crazy Hand raised themselves high in the air for attention and boomed the question once more. "Will you join Smash?"

Anti-Junior and I smiled, looking out at the expectant gathering, who fell silent just as suddenly as if a light was turned off.

The stillness in the room was almost suffocating as the Smashers stared, transfixed, at the two of us, waiting for our answer. I took a deep breath, then Anti-Junior and I repeated our previous declaration.

"Yes!"

I didn't think it was possible after Master Hand's previous announcements, but the shouting and applause reached a whole new volume! "Yes! Yes!" Pit and some others screamed. The Smashers who we had barely met clapped politely. Even the villains seemed satisfied by our decision, but that was probably because they thought they'd get the pleasure of knocking Anti-Junior or me into orbit in a fight.

Around us, the excitement multiplied until it was almost too much. With a sudden rush of energy, the lights within our hearts ignited, and Anti-Junior and I were surrounded by a brilliant glow, our cosmic powers embracing the connection to a few new worlds.

"And that really concludes our opening ceremony!" Master Hand boomed, and he and Crazy Hand zoomed away so as not to get caught in the tide of Smashers rushing forward to reach us.

Beaming broadly, Anti-Junior and I tried to at least make it back to our seats, but within a second or two, we were surrounded by eager Smash participants offering their congratulations.

"Junior! Anti-Junior! That's so awesome!" Link cried.

"Yeah! This tournament just got even better!" Pit exclaimed.

"And you said you weren't fighting!" Shulk commented, clapping me on the back.

"Hey, we didn't know this was going to happen." I explained. "Not that we're complaining."

Marth stood, steering clear of the small group surrounding us. "Leave it to the hands to pull something like that!" he remarked.

Around me, I caught little pieces of conversations that other Smashers were having. "So, who are those two?" Corrin asked Ike. "And what was that white light?"

"Oh, they're friends of ours, and they have powers like some of the others here," Ike responded. I knew there would be questions that followed, but I missed the rest of the conversation thanks to Pit's evil twin.

"Hey! It's Pittoo!" Pit exclaimed as the dark angel strode up to us.

"Don't call me that," Dark Pit grumbled, annoyed at his light counterpart.

Pit only grinned. "You here to congratulate Junior and Anti-Junior, too?" By the tone in his voice, it sounded like he knew this wasn't the case, but wanted to make a joke all the same.

Dark Pit glared at his rival, then turned to Anti-Junior and me. "I don't know who you are, but I'll be happy to launch you into the stratosphere!" he threatened.

Thanks to the amount of battle experience I possessed, I wasn't too worried. "I'd like to see you try!" I retorted.

Dark Pit crossed his arms and turned away without another word.

Seconds later, another fighter's voice caught my attention. "Should have seen that one coming," Cloud muttered, motioning to the invitation I still held. I grinned at him and he almost smiled back. He would pose an interesting challenge on the battlefield. They all would.

The celebration continued for hours after that. No one in the mansion seemed to want to sleep. The anticipation for the start of the tournament was too great. These were going to be some of the best two weeks of our lives, and when the time came, Anti-Junior and I would show all of them what two kids with cosmic powers could really do.

 **A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Feel free to let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So… um… yeah. For the longest time I thought this was going to be a one-shot, but then I thought of a plot for this, sort of, and decided to continue it. For those of you who have followed this story and have been waiting for months, I apologize. I'll be updating this more.**

 **Also, I updated chapter 1 and changed some of the rules of the tournament a bit if you want to look back at it. Basically, the Smashers will participate in a set number of matches and whoever has the most points at the end is the winner. Anyway, story time!**

"Come on, Anti-Junior! Hurry!" I exclaimed, glancing at the digital clock on the nightstand behind my bed. "We're going to be late!"

"Ugh, I don't wanna hurry! Five more minutes!" my friend mumbled, pulling the blankets over his head. The morning sun brightened up the room significantly, even with the blinds on the windows, and after what happened last night, I thought the light would be enough to get him moving, but no.

Grinning, I marched over and yanked the covers away, exactly what my mom would do if Angel or I didn't get up when we were called.

"Hey!" Anti-Junior protested, grabbing at the blankets. "I was in the middle of the most amazing dream!"

"Well, now you're in the middle of the most amazing reality!" I replied, stepping back and giving Anti-Junior some space.

My teammate, however, simply rolled onto his stomach and put the pillow over his head. "I like sleeping better," he groaned, his voice muffled by the mattress.

"Okay, but the Smashers are already eating breakfast!" I informed. I didn't need my super hearing to pick up on the noise coming from the dining room two floors below, not to mention the savory smell of bacon and eggs that drifted through the air.

Anti-Junior bolted upright and gasped in excitement. "It's not a dream?"

"Nope!" I affirmed, smiling at my friend. As far as I knew, Anti-Junior and I had truly been accepted into the latest Smash tournament, and if it was just a dream, then, well, I would have never known that fate was capable of playing such a cruel joke on two cosmic defenders.

"What are we waiting for?" Anti-Junior hollered, jumping out of bed. The next thing I knew, it was my turn to be rushed. We got ready and hurried out to the dining room at top speed.

Every other Smasher was there already, and the room buzzed with excitement, so much so that no one would be able to tell that we all had been partying until three in the morning when we were supposed to be sleeping. Mario and the short boxer were planning a match with Ryu, while R.O.B., Falco, and Mr. Game & Watch seemed to be discussing the transport technology in the mansion. At a table near us, Fox and Captain Falcon were arguing about which of them was faster, until Sonic proved them both wrong.

"Hey! Junior! Anti-Junior! Over here!" Pit waved at us from a table across the room. My friend and I turned away from the three quarrelers and went to get some food.

Once our plates were filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, hash-browns, buttered toast, and chocolate chip pancakes, we joined the table where the angel and a few others were sitting.

"You guys oversleep this morning, or what?" Roy teased as I sat down between him and Anti-Junior.

"Oh, you know, we've gotta make our entrance," I responded, playing along.

Ike chuckled slightly. "Well, you guys sure made one last night," he commented, spreading butter on his toast.

"Yeah! I still can't believe you got invited so suddenly like that!" Pit exclaimed between bites of pancakes.

"Like those other six," Link added, scanning the area for the last minute participants as if he were looking for someone to clash swords with, "I want a match-up with Cloud."

Roy spoke up, his interest sparked. "I want to test my skills against the dragon prince," he stated, pointing to Corrin, who was talking with Marth and Meta Knight two tables away. Roy then stood to refill his plate.

Zelda's blue eyes rested on Anti-Junior and me. "Who do you think you'll be fighting against first?" she inquired.

"I… don't know. There are lots of new faces around here," I mused, a reoccurring fear creeping to the front of my mind.

"Yeah," Ike said slowly, glancing from Anti-Junior to me, "You guys gonna be okay?" he asked, his voice lowered. He, along with everyone else at the table, knew what was bothering us. Link, Zelda, and Pit leaned forward, their mouths tightening with concern, as if all of them were guarding a secret, which they were.

Anti-Junior opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Master Hand's booming voice sounded over the loudspeaker. Forks clattered to the table as everyone in the area dropped what they were doing to listen.

"Attention, Smashers! The schedule for today's battles has been transmitted to your electronic devices. Any additional tournament related announcements will be posted in the common room. If you wish to see when you are fighting today, I suggest you consult your phones in the next few minutes. Fights will begin shortly after breakfast."

"Weird, I didn't get anything." I mused to myself. I was about to ask my friend if he got a message from Master Hand, when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and glanced at the screen. "Well, that's convenient," I remarked, looking over my schedule.

Anti-Junior was doing the same, as were the other competitors. "Whoa! They've completely booked me for today!" my friend exclaimed, staring in disbelief at his phone.

I studied my schedule more closely and grimaced at what I saw. "They have me down for, like, six fights!" I protested.

"Yeah, that happens for the first few days of the tournament," Roy explained, folding his arms. "I'm pretty sure most of our battles are supposed to begin in a few minutes. I know mine does."

The hurricane of activity started up again as fighters inhaled the rest of their food and left for the transporters, chatting happily to one another.

"We'd better go," I prompted, and Anti-Junior and I cleared our plates and joined the tide of tournament participants flooding out of the room. Some Smashers headed upstairs to catch their portals, while others made their way to the main hall to watch ongoing fights.

After waving to Anti-Junior, who decided to take the stairs, I entered the elevator with Lucas, Samus, Falco, Dark Pit, and Kirby, seriously hoping I was ready for this tournament. A few tense, silent seconds later, the elevator dinged and deposited us on the second floor.

A couple of Smashers stopped to check their phones again, while others strode confidently away, seeming to know exactly where to go.

"Let's see… 2-E," I murmured, looking up and down the hall for the transport room I was supposed to find.

"Hey! I'm going there, too!" a blue haired swordswoman commented, stopping by me. I realized this was one of the newcomers who sat at Marth's table during the opening ceremony. "I think we may be fighting each other. We can find the room together."

"Oh! Awesome!" I agreed, glad that she was the one who suggested it. "Uh, what was your name again?" not that she had told me before.

"Lucina," the woman answered. "I'm from Ylisse."

"Yeah? What's it like there?" I wondered, curious to learn about this new world and eager to keep the conversation focused on her instead of me.

"It's beautiful," Lucina replied.

As the swordswoman told me about her kingdom, I kept an eye out for our destination. We walked briskly down the hall, pushing past other fighters, until we stopped at one door in particular.

"2-E!" Lucina exclaimed, glancing at the plaque beside the door. "We found it!" Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside after the swordswoman. The room was dark and silent, except for the electric blue portal on the wall, which cast a faint glow on the ground and emitted a soft hum.

In one corner, Olimar stood with his Pikmin, little creatures that looked like walking vegetables. The Hocotatian turned to me and smiled, the light on his spacesuit's antennae bobbing around as he moved. "I wasn't expecting to fight you in my first round," he admitted pleasantly.

"I couldn't agree more," a deep voice grumbled. Ganondorf, the King of Darkness, stood against the opposite wall, glaring sinisterly at me, arms crossed. The Gerudo radiated an evil aura, which did nothing to ease my tension. I knew I'd have to fight some villains in this tournament, I just wasn't expecting it to be this soon.

Even Lucina, who I had just finished a friendly conversation with, looked intimidating and powerful with her armor, cape, and sword. Her eyes pretty much screamed confident, at least to me.

I didn't have any little assistants, or armor, or weapons, and in just a T-shirt and shorts, I felt way under prepared, though I did have the white power light in my heart, which swelled with waves of pure energy, as if providing its own form of reassurance.

At that moment, Master Hand appeared in the doorway. "Ah, excellent! The combatants have arrived," he said, floating through the room to get our portal ready for us. "This match will be a two stock match. Since it's a tournament battle, you're going for glory, and you'll be fighting at Dream Land. This time, the only item available to you is the Smash Ball."

My heart crashed against my ribcage, each beat resonating through my body like a pair of symbols, and I balled my hands into fists to calm my nerves as I, along with the others, gazed into the blue light, waiting for Master Hand to give the word to start.

"Your battle begins…" We held our breath. "Now!"

With a rush of adrenaline, the four of us charged forward and threw ourselves into the portal.

The next thing I knew, I was standing in a serene meadow with blue skies and blooming flowers. The sun was shining and a warm breeze ruffled my hair. Two trees, one with a face on the trunk, stood in the background, red, yellow, and pink apples dangling from their branches.

Lucina appeared in a beam of gold light, Ganondorf materialized a few feet away, surrounded by shadows, and Olimar exited his spaceship with his Pikmin. I had been to Dream Land before, and it was hard to believe this place was a battle ground, but when Master Hand gave the countdown and said the word 'Go', it sure became one.

Each of us charged, attacking anyone and everyone we could reach. I shot a fire blast at Olimar, which the spaceman dodged, while Lucina ran forward and slashed at Ganondorf. The Gerudo blocked Lucina's blade, grabbed her by the shoulder, and threw her across the area. Olimar was tossing his three Pikmin left and right, each one letting out a high pitched squeal as it soared toward us.

"Ugh! Get off me!" I cried, batting at a Red Pikmin who had latched onto me and was now hitting me with its leaf. However, before I could knock it away, Olimar gave a sharp tweet on his whistle and the little creature ran back to his side. "Oh, so that's how it's gonna be," I muttered, rushing towards the astronaut.

I chanced a quick look over my shoulder to ensure I wouldn't be attacked. Lucina dealt a combo of sword strikes to Ganondorf's body, but the villain sure was keeping the swordswoman busy.

Darting to the left to avoid a blue Pikmin that Olimar had thrown, I slammed into the astronaut, sending him skyward. Before he could retaliate, I fired an energy beam, blasting the spaceman yet again.

Olimar straightened out in the air and a few pink, winged Pikmin brought him back onto the battleground. But, instead of going for me, he threw himself at Ganondorf, who was currently the greater threat to his Pikmin, as the evil guy had already destroyed a few of the plant-like creatures.

Holding my hands in front of me, I began charging a powerful, green plasma blast. I was so focused on gathering my magic that I didn't notice the gleam of silver above me until it was too late.

"Ha!" Lucina screamed as she brought her sword down onto my head. I gasped as I was sent sprawling into the dust. Picking myself up, I tried to finish charging my power, but Lucina was already on top of me. The skilled swordswoman dealt a cascade of well-balanced slashes with her blade, hurling me off of our little arena.

But, I was not about to let her score a knock-out that easily. I kicked off into the air and grabbed hold of the ledge. Pulling myself onto the platform again, I rolled forward, kicking out with my foot. Lucina was launched backwards. I stood abruptly and shot a burst of fire at the swordswoman, blasting her back even further. A pillar of flames sprang up from the ground where I had fired, giving me a few seconds of cover.

Lucina got up and swung her sword at me when a flash of light startled all of us. Moments later, I glanced up to see that Ganondorf was now floating above Dream Land, having been knocked out by Olimar's purple Pikmin. I was surprised that a creature that resembled a walking eggplant could pack such a powerful punch.

"You'll pay for that!" Ganondorf thundered, and charged towards Olimar, his eyes burning with rage.

"I don't think so!" Lucina countered, and to my surprise, went after the Gerudo. Ganondorf grunted in pain as Lucina launched him into the air and dealt a few dazzling areal strikes to his chest.

Wasting no time, I charged up my energy again and released a powerful sphere of light. Lucina sidestepped the blast, and the plasma ball struck Ganondorf head on, but not before he sent Olimar and his Pikmin out of bounds with a Warlock Punch to the head.

Olimar reappeared above us on the floating white recovery platform, looking pretty relieved that his helmet didn't break. He leapt down, plucked three more Pikmin, and the battle continued, heating up with every second. I felt like I was getting hit left and right, but I was also having the time of my life, especially when I managed to almost score a few knock outs, almost.

"Lucina!" I exclaimed with disbelief as I was lowered over the arena. She had countered my white energy beam and my body tingled as the light of the blast zone claimed me, leaving the rest of us with one life while she still had two.

Olimar and Ganondorf were hammering at each other, both of them trying to avoid the blast zone at all costs. Shielding against Lucina's Dancing Blade, I struck her with a barrage of rapid light beams, and she was finally snatched up by the recovery light.

Satisfied, I charged towards Ganondorf, aiming to eliminate the villain from the match. However, as I was about to reach him, a Pikmin latched onto my neck and practically dragged me over to Olimar. The astronaut's grip was strong for his small stature, but I twisted free from his grasp before he could throw me.

Suddenly, the spaceman's eyes widened and he glanced up. It was then that I noticed the glowing, multi-colored orb floating lazily around the arena, and winning seemed like more of a reality.

I had to keep Olimar and his Pikmin away from the Smash Ball, otherwise we'd all be in for it. Ganondorf and Lucina were busy lashing out at each other and hadn't seen the shining orb right away.

Olimar jumped up and tossed his Pikmin wildly at the Smash Ball, but the orb floated just out of reach, and the little creatures hooked onto other fighters instead.

Ganondorf and Lucina kept struggling, the Gerudo not seeming to care that a yellow Pikmin was whacking him with its leaf and zapping him with jolts of electricity.

I could have gone for those two, but Olimar was closer, and with his heavy damage, he'd be an easy target to score another point. Plus, right now, he didn't have his Pikmin to protect him.

Seizing this rare chance, I rushed toward the space explorer, attacking him with a flaming fist. Olimar was knocked upwards through the air. He blew his whistle as he fell, but I was ready for him. I jumped into the air and fired a bombardment of white energy blasts, KO'ing my target. However, that's not the only thing I hit.

 _Crack! Crack! Crack!_

The Smash Ball had floated into my path as well, and there was a rush of wind in my ears as a brightly glowing fire surrounded my body, making the sky and scenery around me appear dimmer.

I landed on the ground, knees bent, and my mouth dropped open when I realized what I had just done. Ganondorf smirked, his eyes flashing fiercely, and barreled towards me. Lucina, wisely, kept her distance, but now I had to worry about the King of Darkness.

"Come on, boy, let's see your true power!" Ganondorf's large form loomed over me, now only three steps away.

I narrowed my eyes and was about to unleash the power of the Smash Ball, when I realized what the Gerudo said. Yesterday, I would have thought I was ready for anything when I joined the tournament, but now that I was here in a fight, about to show off the secrets of other worlds that could potentially be discovered by new enemies, I wasn't so sure.

My body froze up, as if someone had hit a pause button in my brain, that is until Ganondorf's fist sent me flying. "Ugh!" I grunted in surprise as the Smash Ball exited my body, having been knocked free. Trying to catch my breath, I flipped through the air and landed on the very edge of Dream Land.

"Yaaah!" I yelled, and without thinking, I gritted my teeth and lunged forward, knocking him across the arena. Lucina seized her chance and leapt into the air, striking Ganondorf with her blade. The evil man crashed to the ground. However, seeing that Lucina was about to land in front of him, he righted himself and pulled his fist back to swing, groaning as he charged his energy.

But, the blue-haired swordswoman was ready for him. She stuck out her blade at the last possible moment, and Ganondorf's punch collided with her steel. "Ha!" Lucina grunted, and, using the Gerudo's momentum against him, blasted him back with a counter attack so powerful that he was inevitably claimed by the recovery light for the last time.

"I cannot lose!" Lucina proclaimed, her jaw set with determination.

I looked briefly as the Smash Ball floated freely around the arena again, then focused on Lucina, too flustered to act. It only took her a moment to slash the orb with her sword and take its power for herself. She landed towards the other side of our peaceful meadow battleground and stared at me with glowing, yellow eyes illuminated by the Smash power coursing through her body.

Immediately, she activated her newfound ability, and charged forward faster than a rollercoaster, her sword aloft. I just stood there, opened mouthed, as she slammed into me with all the force of a speeding truck, striking with her blade, and a fraction of a second later, I was claimed by the recovery light, the match concluded.

"The future is not written," Lucina declared, twirling and posing with her blade when we had been transported to the winner's pavilion. Ganondorf's eyes were filled with loathing at the swordswoman who had bested him, while Olimar simply looked downcast that his Pikmin had been defeated. I hung my head and clapped politely for Lucina's victory, though my mind was preoccupied with thoughts of a different, fantasized match.

What if I hadn't hesitated? What if I had used the Smash Ball, calling on my otherworldly powers? Would things have ended differently? Or would it still have not been enough? Well, I guess it was too late to find out now… But still…

The Smash portal appeared and we all stepped through it, traveling back to the mansion.

"Awesome match!" I said nervously to Lucina as we exited the transport room. "You were really good!"

She gazed at me for a moment, as if something was bothering her, but she didn't mention it. "You, too," the swordswoman commented.

Olimar and Ganondorf exited the room behind us. "What happened?" the spaceman asked me. "You had the Smash Ball! Why didn't you use it?"

"Because," Ganondorf said, his eyes filled with loathing and malice, "he fears the evil in this world, as he should. He is too weak."

"Says the guy who placed lower than me in our match and failed to conquer Hyrule in multiple reincarnations!" I retorted. Everyone else remained silent, and gained a sudden interest in the ground or their gear, but I was not going to take the villain's insults.

"You failed to land a single strike on me," Ganondorf stated calmly. "And you call yourself their champion?" He waved a hand at the small crowd that had gathered in the hallway.

By this time, other Smashers had finished their battles, and a few of them stopped to see what was going on. Whispers and mutters broke out among some of the newcomers when they heard what Ganondorf said.

I flinched and clenched my jaw, unsure of how to respond, but I didn't back down, though I was slightly shaken up. "I-I didn't-!" I stammered, trying to think of an explanation to ensure that the secret of other worlds beyond Smash wasn't revealed and that Ganondorf didn't discover my fear.

Ganondorf, knowing he had struck a weak spot, continued. "Go on, then, show these unsuspecting Smashers what you are capable of…" He took a step forward, his dark eyes staring into mine. "Or I will."

Everyone remained silent, their eyes flicking back and forth between me and the King of Darkness, trying to gage which one of us would win this argument, yet not too keen on interfering, not just because of the strict rules Master Hand put in place to prevent all chaos from breaking lose in the mansion, but because they realized that Ganondorf was not someone to be taken lightly.

Breathing deeply, I took a quick second to come up with a way out of this without provoking the Gerudo's rage or humiliating myself. "Nah, I don't really feel like it," I refused, knowing that this might anger the villain, not that I was doing it on purpose. I turned and walked away, but that was my first mistake.

"Look out!"

But, I didn't need Shulk's warning to know that a Warlock Punch was headed my way. I ducked just as Ganondorf's fist sailed over my head, and bolted down the hall faster than a certain blue hedgehog. Other Smashers cried out in indignation as Ganondorf shoved them aside and tore after me.

Heart pounding, I ran down the stairs two at a time, vaulted over Wendy and Iggy, who shot each other startled glances, landed with a handspring on the carpet at the base of the stairs, and kept on moving, determined to outrun the Gerudo and any other villains who were sure to join in the chase once they got wind of what was happening.

Hearing Ganondorf's thundering footsteps behind me, I sprinted down another hallway, only to be met by a monstrous figure waiting up ahead. At the moment, Bowser was minding his own business, but when he saw me running, his mouth curled into an unpleasant smile, and he stood in the middle of the hallway with every intention to block my path.

"Outta the way!" I yelled without stopping, and rolled around the Koopa king before he could react.

"Hey! You can't disrespect me like that! Get back here!" Bowser bellowed after me, shaking his fist.

I heard Ganondorf's footfalls falter for a second, and I thought he had given up, but I was proved wrong when two pairs of heavy footsteps thundered down the hallway towards me. Bowser had joined in the chase, too. "Aw, man!" I moaned, scanning the hallway for a place to hide. Unfortunately, all of these rooms belonged to various Smashers, and I was pretty sure they were locked, not to mention their occupants probably wouldn't be too thrilled at the idea of harboring a super-powered kid in their living quarters.

Skirting right around a corner, I bolted past the training room and arcade, almost colliding with Link, Sonic, and Mario, who were heading the opposite way. "Hey, Junior! What's-?" Sonic started to ask, but by then, I was already halfway down the corridor and out of earshot. I wasn't sure how much distance I had put between the villains and me, but I didn't dare chance a look back. If I could just make it to the common room then I could take refuge in knowing that there were a ton of other Smashers around and that Ganondorf and Bowser may be less likely to try anything against me.

Up ahead, the hallway branched off to the left and right. "Ugh, this mansion's like a maze," I complained. I now understood how Pac-man felt, constantly being chased by ghosts.

I skidded to the left and found the common room where, thankfully, there were at least a few people, who each looked up with a start when I burst into the room. I leaped over the couch, where Anti-Junior, Corrin, and the kid in blue robot armor were talking a moment before, but now glanced after me, their eyes wide with surprise.

Fearing I had no time to stop, I continued running until a firm hand gripped my shoulder. Samus stepped in front of me, only barely stopping me from barreling into her. "What's going on?" she asked, concerned and a little upset.

"I'm being chased!" I informed, completely out of breath. Samus's eyes widened with shock. I pulled away from her and was about to keep running when…

"Huuaahh!"

I turned around just in time to be met with a Warlock Punch to the chest. "Aagh!" I screamed as I was sent crashing into a wall. My vision blurred, and I was pretty sure I saw stars.

"Hey! That's-!" Corrin started to say, but I rocketed to my feet, an energy beam already charged.

"Ha!" I screamed as I released the beam. Ganondorf was blasted backwards and crashed into the wall with such force that the room shook violently and dust fell from the ceiling.

"Whoa! Hey!" the other Smashers protested in alarm. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to watch with astonishment and interest.

Before I knew it, Bowser withdrew into his shell and hurled himself at me, the large Koopa moving way faster than I would have expected.

"Leave my friend alone!" Anti-Junior ordered, darting over to me. He held his hands up in front of him, palms facing forward, and conjured an energy barrier, which the Koopa King rammed into and was stopped short of hitting his target. With a mighty push, Anti-Junior sent the giant spiked turtle flying backwards, where he hit the ground with a thud.

Anti-Junior turned to me. "Why are they chasing you, huh?" he asked casually, "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" I affirmed, amused and slightly more confident now that my friend was helping me out. "Ganondorf's just mad because he lost his battle!"

"Oh, yeah! I saw that!" Anti-Junior remarked. "Pretty good fight!"

"Let's focus on this one," I responded, narrowing my eyes. The villains were getting up again, and they didn't look too happy.

At that moment, however, we heard a voice, and that only worsened my mood. "Dad! I brought help!" Bowser Jr. and a few of the Koopalings had entered the common room, their wands raised, along with Wario and King Dedede, who seemed eager to cause even more trouble.

"Reinforcements," Anti-Junior muttered, standing ready. Corrin and the other Smashers didn't seem too eager to jump in, in fact, they looked somewhat uncertain, yet intrigued. Why did they hesitate?

"Ha!" Ganondorf cried, and a second later, Anti-Junior was knocked across the room. I quickly threw my arms in the air and summoned a bolt of lightning. Thunder sounded in the room, but Ganondorf jumped to the right, and the lightning struck the ground.

Anti-Junior picked himself up and waved a hand in front of him. Immediately, the Koopalings and some of the other villains were struck with ice shards that my friend conjured, which shattered like glass when they made contact with the villains' forms.

Clearly angry, our opponents stood to face us, glaring and gearing up for another round of attacks. Anti-Junior and I did the same, raising our hands and focusing our magic, ready to fire.

"ENOUGH!" A voice as loud as a jet plane startled every single person in the room. We all screeched to a stop and stared at the place where it came from to find, to our absolute dread, Master Hand floating in the doorway, and I had to guess that he wasn't too pleased to see his Smashers, fists raised, pointing energy blasts and magic wands at each other.

My heart crawled into my throat, and my hand hung there, suspended in midair as the white energy slowly faded. Ganondorf, Bowser, and the other baddies just stood there, trying, and failing, to look innocent. The onlookers glanced worriedly at one another, seeming to wonder what to say. Silence hung like a thick cloud over all of us, the kind that was heavily tinged with fear, and in some cases, guilt.

Master Hand pointed at Anti-Junior and me as well as the other offenders, one by one, and spoke, and this time, his voice was both calm and deadly. The three words he said were short and to the point, but they definitely weren't sweet. In fact, they may as well have signaled our doom.

"My office… Now."

 **A/N: Again, sorry for the extremely long wait, but I hope the chapter was okay at least. If you guys have any ideas you'd like to see, feel free to let me know.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here's chapter three! Hope you like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my original characters.**

Of all the things I thought I'd do on my first day in the Smash mansion, visiting the authorities' office with a handful of my enemies after an all-out brawl was the last thing I expected.

The villains traipsed along in silence, and my heartbeat sounded like a base drum compared to the deafening stillness. Every once in a while, Ganondorf or Bowser shot Anti-Junior or me an angry glare. My friend and I just stared down at the carpet.

My mind whirred like a spinning fan, and two words surfaced in my brain. "We're done." Yeah, the hands had invited Anti-Junior and me as tournament participants, but after our scuffle in the common room, Master Hand would kick us out of the mansion for sure.

Unfortunately, our dread only seemed to speed up the walk to his office. In no time, we turned the corner and entered the part of the mansion where the hands spent most of the day.

Master Hand stopped in front of a door. I read the gold, curly writing on the plaque beside it. 'Crazy Hand's Office'. Weird. I thought the master was taking us to his own office.

The giant hand knocked on the door with such force that the banging echoed in our ears. "Crazy Hand! Come out here now!"

Anti-Junior and I traded puzzled glances before Master Hand's overly hyper brother zoomed out of the room, screaming "Wheeee!" at the top of his non-existent lungs.

Crazy hand circled once in the air, as if trying to spend his energy from a recent sugar rush, then, when he noticed that he had visitors, he came to a screeching stop in the hall.

"Crazy!" Master Hand interjected before his brother could say anything. "These Smashers require discipline. Take them to your office, please."

I don't know what was scarier, the punishment that awaited us, or the person -er hand- dishing it out. I already knew Master Hand was pretty strict, and I didn't want to imagine the punishments his insane brother would inflict on us if we were his disciplinary victims instead.

"Oooohh!" Crazy Hand shrieked with glee, flipping through the air, his hyperactivity hadn't lessened at the thought of discipline. The hand hovered in front of us, as if taking in our appearance. "Right this way!" he directed in an overly excited voice, pointing a massive finger at his office.

Grumbling and groaning, the villains filed past Crazy Hand into the room. Part of me was curious to see what the place looked like, but based on how my enemies acted, I wasn't sure if I wanted to end up there.

Crazy Hand zipped up to Anti-Junior and me, just noticing us for the first time. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" he shrieked happily, as if we were Christmas presents he was dying to unwrap. "Do I get these two, too?-hee hee! Tutu!" he took a moment to laugh at his joke, then turned hopefully towards his brother.

"No. I'll deal with them." My dread was reinforced by Master Hand's displeased and somewhat angry tone.

Crazy Hand sagged in the air, disappointed, like a little kid who had been denied a piece of candy, but he flew into his office where the villains now waited and closed the door behind him.

"Come with me," Master Hand ordered, and opened the door across the hall. The hand motioned for us to enter, and Anti-Junior and I shuffled inside without a word.

Master Hand's workplace was a little small, but he didn't seem to mind. The window provided pretty good natural lighting when the blinds were up. A big bowl of M&M's sat on a large, wooden desk along with piles of paperwork. It looked kind of like my school principal's office, though slightly larger.

"Sit down," Master Hand instructed, motioning to two straight-backed wooden chairs. Again Anti-Junior and I complied, my fists clenched to calm my nerves. Anti-Junior stared down at his hands, which were resting on his knees, and we both waited anxiously for Master Hand to hit us with his verdict.

"Wait here," the Master ordered, and without another word, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Anti-Junior and I sat in the gloomy silence, listening to the ticking of the clock on the wall, then, when he was sure it was safe to talk, my friend turned to me. "What happened back there?" he hissed, more with concern than anger.

I told him everything that had happened after the battle in Dream Land; how Ganondorf had insulted me, and my flight from the other villains.

"Wait, so Ganondorf tried to get you to reveal your powers?" Anti-Junior asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Pretty much,"

"Weird," my friend mused. He conjured a golf-ball sized sphere of white energy on the tip of his finger and levitated it up and down, as if he were playing paddleball with it. "Ganondorf isn't one to come straight out like that… He seems more… careful, you know?"

"Mm-hm." I could imagine Wario or King Dedede trying to pick a fight, but not necessarily Ganondorf. He was one to wait until his timing was right. "I just can't believe how the other villains joined up with him so quickly."

"I know," Anti-Junior said, still manipulating his sphere of light, "That is pretty strange." He flicked the shimmery white energy in the air once more. "Call me crazy, but could this have been planned? Maybe last night or something?"

"Who knows?" I pointed a finger at the energy spark and waved my hand in a circle, taking the light from Anti-Junior's control. Sighing, I rotated the glowing sphere in the air. "What do you think Master Hand's going to do to us?"

"I've heard rumors, but I'd rather not think about them," my friend shuddered, but then seemed to relax a little. "I don't think it'll be that bad. I mean, we haven't done anything before now, so…"

"It's only our first day." I pointed out. My friend was counting on our past reputation to get us out of trouble, but I wasn't sure how well that would fly with Master Hand.

Anti-Junior opened his mouth to respond, when the door to the office flew open. Both of us gasped, and a lump of dread formed in my stomach again. The tiny white light vanished, my concentration no longer focused on it.

We watched in lingering silence as Master Hand floated behind his desk. His voice was low and calm, yet it radiated power and commanded respect at the same time. "Some Smashers informed me that a fight had broken out in the mansion. That doesn't happen very often, and I wasn't expecting you two of all people to be involved."

I looked down at my hands with shame. Leave it to Master Hand to make me want to crawl under a rock and stay there for the rest of the century.

"Most of the Smashers were pretty quick to tell me that it wasn't your fault. However, fighting outside Smash battles is not tolerated." the hand continued, "You do have a clean record, so I'm going to be lenient, but I still have to punish you, understand?"

My friend and I nodded solemnly. I couldn't bring myself to face the master directly, so my eyes rested on the bowl of candy on the desk. I had a sick feeling that our punishment didn't include M&Ms.

"You both will have kitchen duty after each meal for the next three days." We frowned, and nodded. Master Hand wasn't finished with us yet. "If this ever happens again, I will be forced to implement stricter consequences."

"Yes, sir," Anti-Junior choked out.

"Uh-huh." I nodded, only able to manage a frightened squeak.

"Good," Master Hand said, reassuming his usual calm and friendly nature, and waved to dismiss us from the office.

"Oh, Master Hand?" Anti-Junior looked as if something was on his mind.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering- er-…" my friend drummed his fingers against his chin. "If you knew we were getting invites to the mansion, why did you announce Junior and me separately from the other latecomers?"

"Ah!" Master Hand seemed to have expected the question. "I believe your mentor can answer that one better than I can."

Anti-Junior looked a little downcast. "Oh, okay," he said. My friend and I then got up and walked out into the hall, our combined tension easing somewhat.

"That could have been worse," I muttered.

"Yep," Anti-Junior agreed, "Told you it'd be okay."

"You didn't sound so sure," I teased, nudging my friend's arm.

Suddenly, an angry voice from the next room made both of us jump ten feet in the air! "This is an outrage! How is that fair?" Bowser roared indignantly. It sounded like Crazy Hand had dished out their punishment, and the villains weren't too happy. I just hoped they didn't take their anger out on Anti-Junior and me, otherwise, I was pretty sure we'd have to learn Master Hand's stricter consequences after all.

We had nearly made it back to the others when I heard low, urgent voices, and strained to listen. However, before I could stop and try to make out what was said, Anti-Junior and I entered the common room and the hushed tones died immediately. All heads turned in our direction. Corrin, Link, Lucina, Mario, and a few others had nervous, and somewhat guilty, expressions on their faces, but their eyes were locked on us, as if they expected something.

Finally, Lucina spoke. "What did Master hand say? Was it bad?"

"Not as bad as we thought. We just have to do dishes for a few days," I explained.

Everyone let out the breath they seemed to be holding, and most of the Smashers allowed their nervousness to slip away. Samus, however, marched up to us, her arms crossed and her blonde ponytail swinging behind her. "What were you two thinking?" she demanded, clipping each word. "You shouldn't have retaliated against the villains! At least not here!"

Samus Aran was a long-time friend and one of my most trusted guardians, I thought she, of all people, would have helped during the fight considering the danger of the situation, but no. Why was she so angry now?

"What do you mean?" I protested, "Ganondorf's the one who started it!"

Samus clenched her fists and glared seriously at me. "Of course he provoked you! He had just lost a match, hadn't he?" she said through gritted teeth.

"Well, what else were we supposed to do?" Anti-Junior piped up. "We were outnumbered and… no one else was really helping us…" He hesitated as a few Smashers flushed red and turned away slightly.

Link and Samus briefly held each other's gaze. The bounty hunter seemed to ask something with her eyes, but Link shook his head as if to say 'not now', the gesture almost too small to notice.

Samus turned to Anti-Junior. "Wait for Master Hand! It only took him a minute or two to get here! We could have at least stalled for you! It would have been better than-" She stopped speaking, but the sudden urgency in her blue eyes indicated she wanted to say something more, something important.

"Samus, calm down," Link said, "It could have been worse."

Samus took a deep breath. "I'm know," she relented. She pursed her lips as if deciding to say more. "Just… be careful around the villains." Then, the bounty hunter stormed past us without another word, other Smashers eyeing her warily as she left the room.

"Is she okay?" I wondered, a little confused. Samus's warning was so serious, though a little obvious, and she seemed pretty upset about something.

Link turned to us, and hesitated a second before answering. "It's just… a lot of us have been waiting for the day you two might get to be in a Smash tournament…" he said. The Hylian glanced at Corrin and Lucina, as if deciding what to say with them around. "We just don't want to see you get in any more trouble…"

The room was utterly quiet as Link's last statement sunk in. What he said sounded pretty bad, but I had the strange feeling he was implying worse than what he was letting on.

By lunchtime, the story of my encounter with Ganondorf had circulated through the mansion, and I was pretty sure every Smasher knew at least some of what happened. Rumors spread like the spores of a mushroom, and Ness, Popo and the other kids would over-exaggerate when retelling some of the details. Unfortunately, none of these things could save us from our punishment.

"This is being lenient?" I complained with disbelief, scrubbing furiously at a china plate. Sure, doing dishes for a few days didn't seem so bad, but after washing sixty sets of plates, cups, and cutlery plus all the cookware, Anti-Junior and I had second thoughts. Our hands ached from the work, and I was getting pretty tired of the smell of dish soap.

"My fingers feel like they're going to fall off!" Anti-Junior moaned, placing a newly dried cup on the long counter beside him. "I can kind of see why people don't break Master Hand's rules."

"I'm with you on that one, but why do you think no one jumped in to help us deal with the villains?" I asked bitterly, pouring a few drops of dish soap in a large mixing bowl and sponging it down. "I mean, all these guys have faced some sort of hardship or fight in their own worlds, right? So why didn't they help us when we needed them?"

Anti-Junior began drying the plate I had cleaned. "That's why I said 'kind of'," he clarified, "I mean, you'd think if someone was being attacked, it'd take more than the rules to stop someone else from helping."

"Yeah," I agreed, rinsing off the mixing bowl.

My friend took the dish from me. "I can understand why Corrin or Mega Man didn't help. They may have been afraid to break the rules, but I think it's more than that. They probably didn't know which side to take, this being a new world and all."

"…Mm, that's true." I had forgotten that some of these Smashers were just as unfamiliar with each other and me as I was to them. Still, they should have seen that Anti-Junior and I were the ones in trouble and jumped in to stop our attackers. "I can understand the new guys not helping, sort of," I admitted, "but, what about Link, Samus, and our other guardians who were there? They knew what was going on."

"…Good question," Anti-Junior grumbled. "They knew what could have happened, how bad that could have been. Ganondorf or Bowser could have taken our powers."

A Mii Brawler walked up to us and dumped another load of dishes into the sink. "Last one," he said, and walked off to assist the other Miis with their chores.

I waited until we were alone before speaking. "I don't know why our friends didn't help. They agreed to help us whenever we needed them." I handed Anti-Junior a newly cleaned pot, which he dried and set on the counter. "Your turn to wash now," I said, setting the soap bottle and sponge down.

"Ugh, fine!" Anti-Junior and I switched places and continued working in silence for a while. When I glanced over at my friend again, he looked as if he were deep in thought about something.

He looked up and saw me staring, then decided to say what was on his mind. "I… wasn't expecting the bad guys in this mansion to make such a good team."

"Tell me about it," I sighed, "I hoped we'd seen the last of enemy alliances…"

My gaze drifted off into space, and memories pushed themselves to the front of my mind: An army of evildoers from across the cosmos, and the little band that opposed them, the destruction all around, so many injured, so many friends we thought we'd lost… I wanted to forget that nightmarish battle, but today's events were a grave reminder of that tremendous conflict. However, the sound of the running faucet brought me back to the present, and seemed to wash the memory away before I could dwell too much on the pain.

"Come on, Junior," my friend said, trying to ease the tension, "I don't know about you, but I've already missed two fights. I'd rather not miss a third."

"Right," I agreed, remembering that I was scheduled for a match in ten minutes as well, and we went back to work without another word.

Once the dishes were done, I ran upstairs to catch my portal, barreling past other smashers on the way. I entered the transport room, my chest heaving, just as Master Hand was explaining the rules of the battle.

"…will be a tag team match with a five minute time limit," He didn't give any indication he had noticed me, even though I had practically burst into the room. "All items are available, but at low quantities. Individuals will receive the collective number of points their teams score in this match…"

I hurried across the room to where three combatants waited, their eyes glued on Master hand.

Corrin stood, his blade drawn. I sensed magic in his sword, the steel emitting sparks of red light. But, that wasn't all. Corrin was no more than a teenager, and yet, he radiated a power that felt somehow ancient.

Beside him, Peach fanned herself with a white gloved hand. I guess she was a little nervous.

"Are you okay, Peach?" I whispered.

"Hm? Oh, yes," the princess answered, twirling a strand of blonde hair around her finger. I didn't know how she'd be able to fight in that long, flowing, pink gown of hers, but assumed she wouldn't be here if she hadn't figured out a way.

Yoshi stared straight ahead, his big eyes fixed on the portal in front of him. Though he was a dinosaur, his green skin and long tongue sometimes reminded me of a frog, or chameleon. Well, one thing was for sure, this would be an interesting matchup.

"Now to assign the teams," Master Hand said. I kept my fingers crossed, hoping I'd get a good partner.

"Uh-" Corrin stepped forward. "I'd like to be on Junior's team… if no one objects." I glanced at the swordsman, whose cheeks now flushed a tinge of red. Why had he volunteered himself like that? I stared at him and glimpsed a hint of guilt in his crimson eyes.

"Ah! Does anyone object?" Master Hand asked, "If so, I'll assign you randomly, but…"

"No, that's fine," Peach said, nodding her agreement. She walked over to Yoshi, who seemed okay with the arrangement as well.

Corrin turned to me, but had trouble meeting my eyes. "Is this okay with you, too?" he asked in almost a whisper.

"Uh- yeah," I answered, wondering what was on the swordsman's mind.

"Great!" Master Hand boomed, and without warning, he signaled for the fight to begin.

Flustered, I rushed towards the portal along with everyone else, when it occurred to me that I had no idea where we were fighting! Had I missed that in the hand's explanation? Well, too late to figure that out now.

Seconds later, the portal sent me to a luxurious mansion, which looked creepy, even from the roof. The night air was chilly, and the foggy sky was inky black, except for the massive, full moon that gleamed on the horizon. I barely registered that this was Luigi's mansion before my opponents appeared on the field.

"Hi!" Peach greeted as she folded the pink parasol she used to float down to solid ground. Yoshi had just hatched from a green-spotted egg, and Corrin materialized behind me in a cyclone of water.

I glanced at Corrin. We hadn't had time to come up with a strategy, and I didn't know the first thing about his fighting style. Peach and Yoshi were from the same world and had participated in previous tournaments, so they didn't share this struggle.

"Hey! Watch out!"

The battle had already commenced around me, and were it not for Corrin's warning, I would have been knocked away by Yoshi's Egg Roll. I gasped and sidestepped the giant egg just in time, and it tumbled past me, headed for my teammate.

Corrin cleared the egg in a single bound, just as Yoshi emerged from it, and brought his sword down over Peach's head.

The princess wasn't quick enough to avoid Corrin's rapid strikes, and fell down. Immediately, she righted herself and whacked Corrin with a tennis racket, sending him sprawling across the rooftop.

"Ugh! Stronger than she looks!" Corrin remarked, dusting himself off.

Yoshi was no walk in the park either. I darted away from his long tongue and zapped him with a tiny energy sphere, but the dino jumped into the air and delivered a barrage of light, rapid kicks that almost could have passed for a massage if it weren't for the pain.

"Ugh! Enough!" I commanded, blasting the dinosaur upward with a flaming fist. I jumped up and followed it with a bombardment of energy bursts when a mighty beastly roar caught my attention.

On the far edge of the roof, a magnificent white dragon, wings spread, stood where Corrin should have been, Peach having just been sent skyward.

I gaped as the dragon turned back into Corrin, who landed an aerial sword strike to the airborne princess.

Seeing an opportunity to avoid Yoshi and get answers as to what just happened, I sprinted across the mansion's rooftop. "You can turn into a dragon?" I sputtered in disbelief.

"Yeah," Corrin answered casually, as if I had asked him about something impressive, yet trivial, such as whistling through your teeth.

Just then, the first wave of promised items fell from above, a Warpstar and a blue spiky Koopa shell. I dashed for the shining yellow star and hopped onto the craft. Faster than light, I shot into the foggy night air.

"Yahoo!" I screamed with glee as I zoomed around the mansion. Then, in what seemed like mere milliseconds, I aimed directly for Yoshi, and prepared for a crash landing.

Ka-BOOM! I jumped off of the star just as it exploded onto our battleground, launching the green dino like a catapult! Unfortunately, in all my excitement, I didn't see the flying blue shell closing in behind me.

"Aahh!" I screamed as an explosion of blue light engulfed me. I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw as I straightened myself and landed on the mansion roof again.

I didn't have a chance to catch my breath, though. Peach and Yoshi were ganging up on Corrin, and he struggled to fend them off.

The swordsman shapeshifted once again and let out a ferocious roar, countering Peach's frying pan and sending her into the blast zone, but then Yoshi caught him with his tongue and pulled the struggling swordsman into his mouth.

"Ugh! Eat my teammate, will ya?" I cried as Yoshi laid a Corrin-sized egg on the field. I charged towards the dino, hitting him with a fully charged energy beam. He flutter-jumped through the air and shot towards me with a ground pound that could crush bricks, a hit I wasn't prepared to take.

By this time, Corrin had escaped his egg prison and lashed out at Peach. However, the princess thrust Toad out in front of her, who countered the attack and knocked Corrin off the roof.

The swordsman extended his wings and recovered in a water tornado, then charged forward and we continued our assault against the opposing team. If only things went as planned.

I went for Yoshi, the closer of our opponents, and was about to grab him, when something pelted me in the back of the head. I spun sharply to see Peach pluck another turnip from the ground. Ew! Vegetables! Talk about exploiting a kid's weakness!

"Ha!" she shouted, and hurled the plant at me. I shielded and darted forward, hoping to score a few good hits, however, Peach was quick in throwing up her energy shield, blocking my fire.

"Aahh!" Corrin screamed in pain as Yoshi launched him into the air. How he survived, I'll never know. He needed a Heart Container, quickly, and I had to protect him from Yoshi.

Retaliation tactics buzzed in my head when, a few feet away, I noticed a glimmer of light. I couldn't believe our luck! A bottled fairy had fallen, resting just behind Yoshi. If I could just reach it…

"Ha-cha!" Peach slammed into me from behind, knocking me closer to the fairy. I had to be careful, though. Any more damage, and the little creature would heal me instead of Corrin.

I picked myself up, leapt over Yoshi, who was busy calculating Corrin's descent to know when to strike next, skidded to a stop, and scooped up the glowing, pink, bottled sprite.

"Corrin!" I called, leaping through the air. I tossed the bottle up to the dragon prince, who had already done all he could to stay airborne so Yoshi wouldn't KO him.

Gasping for air, the swordsman reached out and caught the healing fairy. Almost immediately, the sprite's magic did its work, and Corrin landed on his feet, looking much better.

"Thanks!" Corrin said, swinging his blade at Yoshi, who dodged the retaliation. I turned to respond, but didn't get the chance.

Clang! I winced as something hard and metal hit me. Peach tossed me into the air with a flick of her frying pan. "Whoa! Hey!" I cried indignantly, "You can't do that to me! I'm not an egg, you know!"

But then suddenly, Yoshi's tongue wrapped around me, pulling me towards him, and for a few moments, there was nothing but darkness.

"You are now!" Peach giggled. "Good job, Yoshi!"

Embarrassed and completely rattled, I punched and kicked at the brittle eggshell until it shattered, but something wasn't right. I was still falling.

"Aw, man!" I yelled. Yoshi had succeeded in pulling the oldest trick in the book! I lunged for the ledge fifteen feet above me. But, I fell short, and plummeted down to the blast zone.

It didn't seem like the fight went on much longer, but I was so flustered I couldn't process most of what was going on anyway. Only the timer's countdown brought me back to my senses. I'll never remember how we pulled it off, but I was pretty shocked to hear our results.

"Sudden Death! Go!"

Immediately, my nerves were on high alert, and my skin tingled with anxiety. One hit would determine whether our team won or lost this match. One slip-up would cost us much more than a battle. We could lose our standing in the tournament.

I shot fire to provide a second of cover. Yoshi rolled to the right to avoid the flames. Peach threw a turnip at Corrin, who caught the vegetable and tossed it back, though he missed his target.

Corrin glanced at me, his crimson eyes connecting with my blue ones for the tiniest millisecond. Something connected us, like a plug to an outlet, and for the next few moments, we fought as one, perfectly in sinc, as if we were meant to work together.

I let instinct take over, or, more accurately, the light in my heart, and a thought occurred to me, one so startling that it almost made me lose the match. However, Corrin and I had already scored the final blow, and Peach and Yoshi sailed away through the air.

"The winner is… Red Team!"

I closed my eyes, conjured a blue bubble of healing energy around me, and folded my arms. Beside me, Corrin transformed and roared triumphantly, Peach and Yoshi offered up a spattering of polite applause. Though we didn't know our score, as per tournament regulations, I was pretty happy, despite the day's earlier events.

"That was pretty intense," I said when we were transported back to the mansion.

After exchanging congratulations and praises, I walked into the hall, and turned to Corrin, who had exited after me. "A dragon! That was awesome!" I exclaimed, my voice unusually high.

"Thanks," Corrin's fingers trembled as he adjusted his bright blue cape. He sighed and looked down at me. Before I could ask if he was all right, he spoke. "I'm sorry… about earlier."

At first, I didn't know what he meant. The Smash battle and our temporary alliance had driven today's previous events from my mind, until now. "Oh, um," I stammered awkwardly.

"I should have been more decisive when you were under attack," Corrin plowed on. "I've faced tough decisions before. I don't know why this one was different. I should have-"

"I-It's okay. You didn't really know what was…" But the words fled my mind before I could say them, so I changed tact. "I mean- Nothing bad happened- well, aside from dish duty, but that's nothing!"

Corrin laughed nervously, and his anxiety melted away, replaced with a slight grin.

Before he could doubt my words, I decided to change the subject. "So, water powers? Magic sword? Pretty neat." I should have shut my mouth after that, but I didn't realize that I was thinking aloud until it was too late. "The way you fight, you'd make a pretty good guardian-"

"What?" Corrin asked, raising an eyebrow.

I semiconsciously placed a hand over my heart, as if I were protecting the power light inside it. "Uh- just- you fight really good- I mean- well," I clenched a nervous fist and smiled shyly.

The dragon prince looked as if he wanted to ask me something else, but his mouth tightened and he smiled again. "It was an honor working with you."

"You, too!" My anxiety was released with my response, and Corrin and I went our separate ways.

Since that was my last fight of the day, I was free to do whatever I wanted for the rest of the night, at least until curfew. Completely exhausted, I trekked up to my room.

"Hey, Junior," my friend sat up on his bed. "Ready to talk to Akaela?"

"Yeah," I answered, wondering why our mentor hadn't bothered to speak to us since the tournament began. I flopped down on my bed and was about to press the talk button on my watch communicator, when the device beeped, meaning that Akaela was trying to get ahold of me.

"Oh, well that's convenient!" Anti-Junior remarked.

"Akaela?" I asked, taking the call.

"Hello, Junior, Anti-Junior," Akaela greeted, a knowing tone in her voice. "I'm sure there's a lot you two want to talk about, isn't there?"

My friend and I glanced at each other. "Uh, sort of," I answered, trying to figure out where to begin. "You would have said something if it wasn't okay for us to participate in the Smash tournament, right?"

"Right," Akaela affirmed.

Anti-Junior leaned forward. "How long did you know we were going to be invited? And why did you wait until the last second to tell Master Hand it was okay to invite us?"

"Ah! I imagine that was quite the surprise, wasn't it?" Anti-Junior and I listened silently. "I had to do something to get you a little attention. I know how much you two like to hide your true abilities, so I thought I'd give you a bit of a push to show the new Smashers who you are."

My mouth ran dry and Anti-Junior frowned. We shouldn't have been as surprised as we were. Akaela was always trying to get us to become comfortable with revealing our cosmic powers in order to recruit new guardians to help us in our overall mission to protect the multiverse, but why couldn't she let us do it at our own pace?

"I understand your reluctance to reveal your abilities," Akaela continued, "but there are some good people in this mansion. Find them. Make friends with them. Fearing enemy threats keeps you from seeing the opportunities right there in front of you."

I felt as if I had been Warlock Punched in the stomach. She had to be referring to my conversation with Corrin. I had missed the chance to gain a really good fighter on our side. But, learning to trust someone so quickly was difficult, not to mention dangerous.

"We'll try harder," I promised halfheartedly, hoping this would satisfy my mentor.

"Good," Akaela approved, and her tone became serious. "There will soon come a time when you'll need your friends. The more you have, the better. Good luck in the tournament, you two!" and with that, our conversation was over.

After a few minutes, I lay in bed, Akaela's words still fresh in my mind. What had she meant when she said we'd need our friends sometime soon? Did it have something to do with the Smash tournament? Was that the reason we had been allowed to come to the mansion?

By this time, both my body and mind felt like jelly. I couldn't focus on Akaela's words any longer, and drifted into a quiet sleep.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! I don't know how often this particular story will update, but I'll be posting something at least once a week.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry this took forever, but here it is!**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my original characters.**

Two days later, I was watching a battle with a few other Smashers and a crowd of Miis in the main hall. The current match had been a four-way stock battle atop a moving aircraft, but it had quickly elevated to a fight to the finish with the last two combatants, both of which refused to lose.

Fighting in the sky was so cool! The challengers had to endure the rushing wind as well as their foes' attacks, and they got a pretty decent view of the big, wide world below them, even if they only had a second to enjoy it before a punch sent them flying. Occasionally, another plane would happen upon the battleground, and the pilot probably wondered why a fully-armored bounty hunter was swapping blows an eleven year old kid.

"Oohh!" the spectators chorused as Samus's air-kick launched Anti-Junior from the plane. Samus landed, knees bent, and aimed her arm cannon, her golden orange armor glinting in the sun with each movement.

"Come on, Anti-Junior! You've got this!" I bellowed among the cheers and hollers in our viewing room.

The yellow aircraft had just passed by some island mountains and soared over the crystal-blue ocean when Anti-Junior caught hold of the wing of the plane, making a recovery that seemed impossible considering the distance Samus launched him.

Straining, my friend pulled himself up onto the ledge, but by the looks of him, he needed a Heart Container. Fast. Samus had sustained a lethal amount of damage, too, so it was a pretty close match. However, with the ruthless way the bounty hunter fought, and the fact that no items were allowed, it'd take a miracle for Anti-Junior to get in the single hit he needed to win.

"Anti-Junior's doing pretty good!" Ness complemented as my friend shot a homing energy projectile.

"Samus is definitely going to win this, though," Wii Fit Trainer said. "I mean, she took out both Fox and Captain Falcon! Anti-Junior just so happened to dodge most of the crossfire!"

Samus, who currently sported her power suit, shot a missile from her arm cannon, intercepting Anti-Junior's blast. She then jumped into the air, rolling into a tight ball.

Anti-Junior raised his hand and, with a flick of his wrist, released a magic ice crystal that arced overhead,

Samus emerged from her ball form, avoiding the ice explosion by an inch, and, with impressive precision, dealt a swift kick to Anti-Junior's head, knocking him off the plane yet again.

"Watch out!" I cried as Samus fired a fully charged energy blast. My friend was about to get hit with an energy sphere the size of a small boulder, only one hundred times deadlier.

Anti-Junior tensed up in concentration. Then, at the last second, he spread out his arms, conjuring a cyan blue bubble around him, absorbing the massive blast and turning the hurt into healing energy. This earned him a cheer from the crowd, but he still had to avoid the blast zone, which his body was rapidly approaching.

With a sudden movement, he thrust his hands downward and rose up on a current of wind. Mouth set with determination, he reached up and barely caught the tip of the plane's wing.

Those watching with me screamed in triumph as he pulled himself up onto the aircraft, which had completed its round and was flying over the island resort.

Samus dashed forward, and though her expression was hidden by her helmet, she looked ready to finish this fight. She shot another missile, but Anti-Junior leapt over it and pulled back his arm.

Samus jumped back in alarm. She skidded away from Anti-Junior's white energy beam, then darted forward to meet him head-on, shouting something that was lost in the 'Oohh!' of the spectators.

Anti-Junior narrowed his eyes, bracing himself for the oncoming attack. Samus lit her arm cannon and curved a wave of flames over her head.

In the nick of time, Anti-Junior sidestepped the fire. Then, he turned and grabbed the armored bounty hunter's shoulder. "Ha!" he cried as he flung his opponent through the air.

The screen froze with a shot of my friend's shocked face as Samus flew into the blast zone.

"He won!" Roy exclaimed as the rest of us cheered.

On screen, Anti-Junior was now at the misty, white winners' pavilion. He did a backflip, pumped his fist in the air, and grinned broadly, his body bathed in a halo of white light.

"That was a pretty neat fight," Ness said, adjusting his red baseball cap.

"Yeah!" I agreed, and went upstairs to go congratulate my friend.

Anti-Junior stood outside one of the transport rooms, panting heavily from the strenuous fight, and trembling with excitement and astonishment.

"Congratulations," Samus said, somewhat quickly, and stalked away down the hall without paying any of us a second thought. Something told me she wasn't a big fan of losing.

Fox and Captain Falcon exchanged post-match congratulations, and headed down the hall to do who knows what.

"You look like you need a healing potion or something," I remarked. Of course, Anti-Junior wasn't actually hurt. Pain was nullified somewhat during Smash fights, preventing any serious injuries, but fighters could still get pretty winded if they weren't careful.

"I seriously thought I was going to lose for a minute there!" Anti-Junior exclaimed between gasps of air. "Luck was definitely on my side."

"You did great! But, what happened in the beginning with the-?"

"Oh, you saw that?" Anti-Junior asked. His face paled with embarrassment. "I blew it on my first life! I was on the edge when Falcon knocked me off and meteor-smashed me straight down into the blast zone. I really shouldn't have won that match."

"But you did!" I pointed out, elbowing my friend in the ribs. "The rest doesn't matter!"

My friend didn't seem so sure. "I feel bad though. Honestly, I was kind of running half the time… My opponents were just so powerful, and I didn't want to be the first one out!" He looked at me pleadingly, hoping I'd understand.

"Hey! I get it!" I empathized. Everyone gave into fear once in a while. "You'd better not do that when I'm fighting you, though!"

Anti-Junior smirked and his blue eyes glinted with mischief. "I wouldn't dream of it!" he said.

"Uh-huh! Sure!"

We began walking down the hall, mainly to clear the way for Marth and Little Mac, who were entering the transport room.

Anti-Junior stopped and turned to me. "So, did you find anyone who might be a good guardian?" he asked.

His question caught me off guard. "It's only been a couple of days," I said. "I haven't gotten to know any of the newcomers well enough yet."

Anti-Junior smiled. "Hm, guess not!" he agreed, "We could really use another magic instructor, though."

I nodded, considering which Smasher would be the best candidate for the job.

The guardians we recruited not only helped us defend the cosmos, but they also were responsible for teaching us about their worlds and how to use new abilities. When it came right down to it, Anti-Junior and I were only as strong as our helpers, meaning the more, the better, especially when it came to variety.

"Well, I have to go," Anti-Junior said. "I have another fight before lunch." Then, he grinned. "And don't worry! I won't run from this one."

"Good luck!" I said, and Anti-Junior turned and went to his next transport room.

I walked down the hall, wondering how either of us were supposed to catch up in the tournament. We'd missed over a third of our scheduled battles thanks to dish duty, and though we did fairly well in the ones we were able to go to, a few missed fights could cost us dearly. Sure, today was the last day of our punishment, but still… those missed battles could be the deciding factor of whether either of us advanced in the tournament.

"Oh!" My mind was so lost in thought that I winced when I collided with a round body. "S-Sorry!" I stammered, shuffling backward to regain my balance.

"Oh no," Pac-Man said. "It was my fault." The round, yellow cherry muncher rubbed his eyes, as if he had just woken up from a nap. "Haven't been sleeping well. I can barely keep my eyes open."

"Really?" I mused. "Do you have any idea why?"

Pac-Man yawned. "I've been having these weird dreams the last couple of nights… Creepy…"

"Don't you always have nightmares about ghosts?" I asked hesitantly, recalling a sensitive piece of information Pac-man shared with me during a run through the haunted maze in Pac-World.

Pac-Man shuddered from the very memory. "Yeah, but these dreams have been different… Darkness… Creepy voices…"

I blinked in confusion. That sounded about right for one of PAC-Man's typical nightmares. What was different, though? I was about to ask him when a dry cackle sounded through the hall, making my stomach feel like it had ingested five tons of garlic.

"Well, well, if it isn't the one who got us into this mess."

Wario sauntered down the hall toting a vacuum cleaner, but he still looked as smug as ever, like a school bully who found some new kids to pick on, though his yellow cap and purple overalls didn't help the image.

"Guess you're not happy with Crazy's punishment," I said, staring at the plump man. A billion defense strategies chased each other around in my brain, but none of them would be overlooked by Master Hand, not to mention Akaela.

Wario took a step closer with no intentions of letting us by. "I have you to thank for it," he sneered, the smell of garlic nearly choking me. "We have to clean the entire mansion top to bottom because of you!"

Because of me? Fists clenched, I attempted to master myself. "You're the ones who attacked me," I retorted through gritted teeth.

"You're the ones who attacked me," Wario mimicked, a whiny tone in his voice that hadn't been present in mine.

The light in my heart sparked with energy, and I was only partially trying to hold it back.

Would it really be that bad if, just for a moment, I tapped in to my powers to send Wario to a different dimension? I technically wouldn't be starting a fight with him, but Akaela probably wouldn't let me live it down. She would most likely lecture me for two hours on better ways to solve my problems, so that wasn't an option.

Instead, I did the slightly sensible thing. "Can't we settle this on the battlefield? I really don't want to hurt you."

Wario balled his hands into fists and stepped forward, the brim of his hat nearly touching my forehead. "You'd better hope you don't meet me on the battlefield, 'cause I'll pay you back tenfold! I'll-!"

"Hi, Master Hand!" Pac-Man greeted, waving energetically.

Wario blanched and jumped back as if he had just been burned. But, when he looked behind him, no one was there.

"Well, you look like you have some cleaning to do," I said, biting back my laughter. "We'll just let you get back to that now," and before Wario could recover his wits, Pac-Man and I pushed past him and strolled down the hall.

"Guess those guys aren't too happy with you," Pac-Man said once we were a safe distance from Wario.

"Nope," I answered, exhaling, "Thanks for your help."

"No problem!" Pac-Man responded, grinning. "I wouldn't be too happy if I had to clean the whole mansion during the tournament, but they got what they deserved. So, where are you going, anyway?"

"Hm," I hadn't really thought about that, but the room down the hall looked inviting. "…Game room. Want to come?"

Pac-Man grinned. "Sure, if it'll keep me awake," he said, and followed me inside.

Both kids and adults could agree that the game room was the perfect place to relax. It had anything anyone could ever want. From the shelves upon shelves of board games and cards to the arcade machines with blinking lights and nostalgia inducing beeping sounds, the place was a funhouse of entertainment. As a result, it was almost always occupied by at least a few fight-worn Smashers.

Across the room, Ness and Toon Link were engaged in a wild game of air-hockey. Dr. Mario was wrapped up in a game of Operation, Villager was sitting on a yellow bean-bag chair typing away on his phone, and Pit, Mega Man, and Link were immersed in a game of Monopoly. There were so many choices, it was hard to figure out what to pick.

"Hey! Pac! Over here!" Villager waved from his bean bag. "You've got to check out this app!"

Pac-Man's face lit up. "Be right there!" he exclaimed, and hurried to join his buddy. Looks like he found something to keep him awake after all.

I walked up to the Monopoly table. "Do you have room for another player?" I asked, seeing as they had just started.

"Yeah. We'll deal you in," Link said, passing me the little Ziploc bag with the game pieces. "Pit's banker, by the way."

"Yep!" Pit said, a proud grin on his face as he dug through the piles of Monopoly money to deal me my starting currency.

Since the Master Sword, Power Star, and Samus helmet were already taken, I settled for the Gyroid game piece and the game got under way. However, after twelve times around the board, it became pretty clear that I was the menace to Monopoly society and wouldn't be allowed out of jail for more than three turns at a time.

"What? Again?" I asked incredulously, landing right on the corner space of the board.

"Wow, Junior! That's like the fifth time!" Pit teased as I reluctantly moved my piece to the opposite corner. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" I played along, trying to display a perfect picture of innocence. "I'm usually the one who puts bad guys in jail! Mega Man, I'll give you five hundred dollars for that card."

The blue robot grinned and picked up his get-out-of-jail-free card. "Nope!" he said, turning me down for what must have been the tenth time. He shook the dice a few times before rolling. "So, who's the villain in your world, Junior?" he asked.

"Huh?" I looked up, my stomach flip-flopping at this question.

"You said you fight a lot of bad guys, so who's your enemy? You know, the main baddie you have to fight? Mine's Dr. Wiley."

"Oh, uh-"

The truth was that there were many villains all across the cosmos that I have had to fight at one point or another, a few certain Smashers included. I guess every hero had to have an enemy. It was just how things worked, something to do with balance in the cosmos. As for an enemy from my universe… Well, there was one, the first bad guy I had ever fought.

My heart sank. If I answered Mega Man's question, other inquiries would surely follow, and I would end up revealing sensitive information, like the existence of other worlds beyond the Smash multiverse, information which villains like Dr. Wiley could exploit and use against both Mega Man and me. I had to learn about his world first before I revealed anything about mine.

"Wait. Who's Dr. Wiley?" I asked, deflecting Mega Man's previous question.

"He's a crazy scientist who creates all these robots to destroy humanity," Mega Man explained. "I've fought him lots of times, but he always finds a way to return."

"Hm," I mused, impressed at Mega Man's combat experience. "What's your world like?" I wondered, figuring it would be good to know if I ever had to visit.

However, before the blue bomber could answer, a Mii Swordfighter entered the game room, a clipboard and pencil in her hands. "Hey, guys! We've got a request for pizza. Are you feeling up for it?"

Most of the Smashers perked up with interest and wanted to be the first to voice their agreement.

"Okay, hold on!" The Mii said, drawing dashes on her clipboard as if she were tallying something up.

"Wait, what's going on?" I whispered, a little confused. "Isn't the menu already planned out?"

Link was the one to answer me. "Usually, but sometimes, we can ask for specific meals, such as takeout, and if the request gets enough votes, it overrides the original plan."

"What about you guys?" The Mii Swordfighter had turned to our table and was waiting for our input. "You four have the deciding votes."

"Yes!" we chorused, nodding eagerly.

The Mii smiled and looked down at her clipboard. "All right! Looks like we're having pizza!" she said, and left the room with a spring in her step, glad she and her fellow Miis got the afternoon off.

"Yahoo!" Pit cheered, throwing his hands up in celebration. "I love democracy!"

"Yeah!" I cried, giving the angel a high-five, and we returned to our Monopoly game.

At noon, the rush to the dining room was crazier than usual, Smashers spurred on by the succulent aroma of tomato sauce and melted cheese. My mouth watered as I stared at the buffet table piled high with cardboard boxes of deliciousness.

Mach Pizza had really outdone themselves, providing every topping imaginable, from cheese, pepperoni, and pineapple to barbecue chicken, onions, olives, and an assortment of peppers. Apparently, they delivered pretty fast, too, so it was easy for the Miis to put in a last-minute order for lunch.

Since we had all come from the game room, Pit, Link, Mega Man and I shared a table along with Villager and Pac-Man.

Anti-Junior was at another table with Robin, Corrin, Mario and Luigi. Was it just me, or did they all look pretty serious?

"So, what was the original plan for lunch?" Villager wondered.

"Who knows? Who cares?" I responded gleefully, taking a huge bite of cheese pizza.

Pac-Man nodded. "All I want to know is who requested this!"

Across the table, Pit grinned, though quickly concealed it by looking down at his plate. "So, what are you doing after lunch?" he asked the group.

"I'm probably going to go on Smashface some more." Villager said.

"Smashface?" I asked, leaning forward.

"Yeah!" Pit said, putting down his pizza and pulling out his phone. "Apparently it's been around since the first tournament. It's a way for Smashers to keep in touch from their own worlds between competitions."

"Oh, so like Facebook?"

"That's right!" Pit answered, cramming the last of his pizza into his mouth.

Link glanced around the room as if looking for something, then turned back to me. "So, do you have another fight after lunch?" he asked.

I sighed and reached for my cup of soda. "Yeah, but I'll most likely end up missing it."

Pit, who had been grinning moments before, now looked triumphant. "Oh, no you won't!"

The cup stopped halfway to my lips. "What do you mean?" I asked slowly.

Just then, Pac-man, who had already gulped down five slices of pizza, stood to throw his paper plate away.

I looked around the main hall at the paper plates and Styrofoam cups, and a bubble of happiness inflated inside me when I realized what having pizza really meant. It looked like I had gotten my get-out-of-jail-free card after all.

"Okay! It's official! Whoever changed the lunch menu is my best friend!" I hollered loud enough for the entire dining room to hear.

"I second that!" Anti-Junior cried, jumping up from his chair.

Palutena, who happened to be walking by our table, grinned at me. "That would be Pit!" she said with a giggle. "He came up with the idea so you and Anti-Junior wouldn't be stuck doing dishes!"

"Lady Palutena!" Pit whined as he shrank down in his seat. The color on his cheeks now rivaled that of pizza sauce. He waited until his mistress made it back to her table before speaking. "It wasn't just for you. I wanted pizza, and the Miis got a break as well! Everyone wins! Well, except for the villains who technically have to clean up this mess!"

I shot a glance at the table at the far end of the hall, where each and every evildoer sat scowling over their rotten luck. After all, part of cleaning the mansion included cleaning the dining room, and disposing of the mountains of trash accumulated by an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet.

"Hey! I don't care what the reasons were! Just thank you!" This was amazing! Now, Anti-Junior and I didn't have to worry about any more tournament points going down the drain.

Pit straightened in his seat, his blue eyes shining. "Don't worry about it! I've got your back!" he promised.

I couldn't help but smile. I guess there was more than one way for my guardians to help me.

By this time, Smashers were throwing their trash away, much to the villains' displeasure, and heading to their next fights. For the first time in three days, I joined them. Anti-Junior and I would have to do dishes when dinner came around, but we could handle that in knowing that we were actually able to try our hardest in a nice, long string of matches. Now it was time to get caught up.

When I reached the elevator, it was full, so I had to wait for the next one. A voice sounded behind me and I turned to see a friend.

"No kitchen duty today?" Ike asked. His mouth was set in a straight line, but his blue eyes twinkled.

"Nope! Thankfully!" I said.

"Good. Now I might actually get a chance to fight you."

"Oh no, I hope not!" I said, grinning. "You'd destroy me with that big golden blade of yours!" And I only know that because I've been on the receiving end of Ike's sword during practice sessions.

A smile tugged at the corners of Ike's mouth. "Come on! Don't sell yourself short. I think you'd be a decent challenge."

The elevator doors opened and we stepped inside.

"Cloud!" I exclaimed.

The blonde swordsman strode into the elevator just as the doors slid shut. He, too, seemed like a powerful fighter. His huge sword was enough to send people running, not to mention the blue glow in his eyes.

"So, what transport room are you going to?" I asked.

"Hm. I'm not about to tell you," Cloud answered, and turned away, not in the mood for talking.

"Wow," Ike said. "Some people will do anything to win this tournament."

Cloud ignored him.

We stepped out of the elevator. My heart raced in my chest. Would I have to fight either of these two? I came to a stop at 2G, my assigned transport room, but to my immediate relief, Cloud and Ike continued down the hall.

"Good luck!" Ike called over his shoulder, and walked into the room a few doors down. Cloud stopped at one across the hall and entered.

Grinning, I peered into my portal room, bracing myself for my three opponents. However, the place was unoccupied accept for a green clad figure with a sword and shield. Ike and Cloud looked pretty tough, but Link, with his Hookshot and projectiles as well as the Master Sword, could hold his own against pretty much anyone, and he had, considering this was his fourth Smash tournament.

When Link saw me, relief flickered across his face. "Oh, good! It's you!" At first, I wondered if he was dreading a face-off with a certain Smasher, but Link wielded the Triforce of Courage for a reason. So then why was he so relieved to see me?

"I need to speak with you."

I stepped closer. "Okay, about what?" I wondered. The seriousness in Link's blue eyes made me uneasy for some reason.

The Hylian ran his fingers through his blonde hair, but before he could get two words out, another Smasher appeared in the doorway.

"Wow! Link and Junior in the same fight? This'll be epic!" Pit's voice rang out through the room. His bow and mirror shield reflected the portal's blue light, but nothing shone brighter than his enthusiasm.

Link sighed heavily and flashed me an 'I'll talk to you later' sort of look. It was clear he wanted to speak to me about something important, and he wanted to talk alone.

No sooner had he done this than Master Hand floated into the room. "Ah! Three of you are already here! I trust none of you has broken probation to make this fight."

The only one Master Hand had to worry about in this case was me. "I'm here legally!" I answered. "There were no dishes for me to do!"

By the tone in his voice, Master hand sounded like he was smiling. "Then, you have every right to be here. As for our fourth opponent-."

"I'm here! Don't you dare start without me!" A furious demand and loud stomping preceded the arrival of the Koopa King himself. Whether or not he had broken his probation remained to be seen.

Master Hand began his usual pre-battle explanations, but I couldn't focus on what he was saying. The glint in Bowser's red eyes made me feel uneasy. He seemed more arrogant and confident than usual, as if he was harboring some secret that none of the others knew, something that made him a million times more dangerous.

I had been around enough enemies and bad guys to be able to tell pretty easily whether they were hiding something, and Bowser just screamed suspicious, though his was a good attempt at concealing it, as Master Hand made no indication that something was out of the ordinary.

Link, Pit, and I stepped closer together and faced the Koopa King as if we had the same idea in mind. However, Master Hand immediately guessed the thoughts that had only surfaced moments ago.

"No ganging up on any one fighter, is that clear?"

The three of us nodded solemnly.

"Oh, let them try!" Bowser taunted, flexing his muscles. "I'll take all three of them on!"

Master Hand ignored him and gave the word to start. Determination unwavering, four Smashers entered the glowing, blue vortex. Little did I know that only three of us would return.

 **A/N: So, this chapter kind of took on a life of its own… Crazy how that happens, right? And, yes. There is actually a Nintendo version of Monopoly!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hi, guys! Well, I'm not gone! Just super busy! Hopefully you enjoy this chapter, though. Thanks for all the feedback!**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my original characters.**

The sun shone bright and hot over the vast, grassy plains. Rocky cliffs stood in the distance, their caves opening like eyes, big and wide, as if the landscape itself was watching us. Something that appeared to be a humongous, metal creature stood against the sky. Even from far away, that mechanical monster made me shudder. But, as menacing as he seemed, he was nothing compared to my opponents, who were much closer.

A gust of wind rushed by as Link emerged from a mini tornado, his blue eyes radiating the courage he was well-known for. Pit descended in a beam of golden light, a cocky smile playing at his mouth. Bowser erupted onto the scene in a whoosh of orange fire, and the sneer on his face said he was ready to end more than just the match.

If I played my cards right, victory would be mine, along with a handful of tournament points. Any mistake on my part, however, would cost me. Yep, just a regular Smash battle.

One minute, the plains were calm. The next, we charged like rhinos, hitting anyone and everyone in sight. Adrenaline heightened my senses, alerting me to my opponents' movements, no matter how quick.

"Hyaa!" Link lunged forward, his sword slashing through the air two inches from my arm. I had sidestepped his blade, but before I could counter, Link pulled out a bomb and held it high as if ready to throw.

Better to avoid that for now. I jumped away and dashed towards Pit, who had split his bow into dual swords and swung at Bowser.

"Bring it on, angel boy!" Bowser taunted, shielding against the better part of Pit's attack.

"With pleasure!" Pit slammed into the giant turtle, delivering an uppercut that launched him skyward.

"Break it up, you two!" I shouted, shooting a cascade of white energy blasts. That is until Link's bomb exploded on all of us.

Chaos and pandemonium erupted around us as we traded blows. Link and Pit were nothing more than green and white blurs clashing swords. Bowser was slower, which would prove to be his downfall, as long as I kept my distance.

Since this was a stock battle, I had to make each point count while avoiding the blast zone. My gaze flicked skyward, hoping to catch a glimpse of help from above.

"Items won't save you!"

I gasped through clenched teeth as Bowser delivered a crushing blow powerful enough to crack cement. A sneak attack!

"Ugh! No fair!" I cried, twisting in the air and landing a few feet away.

Bowser smirked. "All's fair in love and Smash!" He tried to grab me, but I dashed out of his reach.

"Tell that to Master Hand!" I retorted.

Bowser cringed as my fire blast struck him in the chest. He lunged at me, but I rolled behind him and gathered my magic. I was about to shoot a few energy blasts, when he spoke. "Too bad that overgrown hand doesn't know what's about to happen."

My arm froze mid-swing. "What's about to happen?" I repeated. So I hadn't imagined the gleam in his eyes. Bowser was hiding something.

Bowser charged forward to grab me, and would have succeeded if it weren't for Pit's arrow. The Koopa king winced in pain as the streak of blue light pierced his shoulder.

"Not exactly what I was aiming for!" Pit grinned at me, then took an archer's stance to shoot again.

Oh, no. He wouldn't get me that easily. Just as Pit fired his arrow, I conjured a bubble of silver energy around me. The angel's light projectile bounced off my barrier, hitting him in the chest.

"Never seen that trick before…" the angel muttered.

That was because in my previous battles, I had never needed it. But, when all three of my opponents used projectiles, the reflector proved quite useful. It felt good to have a trick up my sleeve, if only to see the face of the unsuspecting fighter who had fallen for it.

Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one with life-saving tricks. On the other side of the field, Link held a glass trophy high above his head. The trophy shattered, and one bright flash of light later, a woman's voice carried across the field.

"Prepare yourself!"

A cry of alarm escaped my throat at the appearance of the nomadic swordswoman, her blade in hand and a deadly gleam in her eyes. Lyn looked at home on the plains, and I didn't want to find myself on the receiving end of her Mani Katti.

Pit and Bowser were too busy fighting to notice right away, and when Lyn swung her blade, neither could avoid it in time.

Bowser was almost sent to the blast zone, but Pit hadn't been launched far at all. With a few beats of his white wings, the warrior landed on the field again, panting hard and gripping his bow. He would have charged at Link, if it hadn't been for Bowser's fire blast from behind.

"Oh, that is IT!" Pit screamed, not too thrilled with the idea of being barbecued. He turned towards Bowser and charged.

Since those two were fighting each other, I ran towards Link, who was the bigger threat.

The Hylian threw his boomerang, but I conjured my silver barrier, which deflected the flying projectile. Link grunted as it struck him in the side of the head, pushing him off the arena.

Grinning, I shot a blast of fire at the ledge to prevent him from recovering, but, he latched onto the edge with his Hookshot and pulled himself up.

The sky grew darker and the air got colder as the sun sank below the cliffs. Flames and explosions disoriented me as my eyes adjusted to the lack of light. Since it was more difficult to see now, I'd have to rely on my other senses to win this fight, assuming I didn't get knocked out in the process.

"Ha!" Pit cried as he slashed at me from behind. Then, almost faster than I could blink, he followed it up with an aerial strike, spinning his blades like propellers.

Before I could escape, Pit shot a light arrow with impressive precision, hitting me even closer to the blast zone.

My heart hammered in my chest and a gulp of air caught in my throat as I twisted and flailed to stop my flight. Please don't let me be the first one KO'd.

My speed slowed mere feet from the blast zone, and I exhaled in a moment's relief.

As I plummeted back down to the field, something round and black fell past me. Realizing what it was, I dove through the air and caught it before it could explode.

Seconds later, a blur of white jumped up to meet me, his swords cutting the air.

"No you don't!" I chucked the Bomb-omb downward, and it exploded, taking Pit with it. This time, however, he flew out of bounds, claimed by the blast zone.

That was one point for me!

Almost laughing with pleasure, I flipped through the air and landed on safe ground, or so I thought.

Bowser, who had dashed closer while I was in the air, took a great breath and spewed a stream of flames.

The heat was so intense, almost as hot as the surface of the sun. I deflected the brunt of his attack, but the first few flames had inflicted some serious damage.

To my right, Link swung his sword, but, though my mind was flustered, my body was on high alert, and I ducked beneath his steel and blasted him with fire.

My attack was a little weak, but it was enough to launch him pretty far.

"Hey! That's my knock-out!" A newly recovered Pit tore across the field, knocking a helpless Link higher into the night sky. The angel landed, and leapt up to finish the job, his sword glinting in the light of the full moon.

The stomping behind me alerted me to Bowser's advance, but before he could strike, I countered with a grab. With a mighty heave, I tossed the massive turtle in the air. "That's for earlier!"

 _Crack! Crack! Crack!_

An orb of light streaked across my vision with Link in pursuit. Wait! That wasn't moonlight that reflected off of Pit's blade! That was the Smash Ball! I had to break that thing! If I wanted to win this match, I had to!

However, as the fighting continued around me, thoughts piled up in my mind, weighing me down, the same ones that had haunted me previously

"There's no problem," I told myself, sprinting towards the floating orb. Everyone in this battle already knew what I was capable of. And besides, if I didn't break the Smash Ball, someone else would.

Straining with concentration, I tried for a leap, but it was as if my bones turned to ice. My joints locked up and my legs refused to jump. Then the chills came, and I knew something was wrong.

Aside from our battle, the dark plains were completely still, and yet, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Some malevolent force was watching, an otherworldly power that was unfamiliar to me. But, I couldn't stop the fight to investigate.

Glancing up, I caught sight of the Smash Ball, which now hovered high above the far side of the arena. Bowser, who had just chomped down on a Maximum Tomato, lunged for the glowing orb. Pit darted after Link, bent on scoring a point.

When my body finally decided to move, the Smash Ball had already shattered under the force of Link's blade, and I ran right towards him, only realizing once it was too late. Pit stopped in his tracks, but he was way to close. We both were.

The Hylian landed and unleashed his newly acquired power. A beam of light shot from his hand, and Pit and I were trapped within the golden Triforce. Everything faded around me, drowned out by the light of the three glowing triangles. Then Link started slashing, and I knew I was done for.

I cringed as Link dealt blow after blow with the Master Sword. Link pulled back his arm for the final strike. Pit managed to free himself from the triangular prison, but I wasn't so lucky.

"Hyaa!" The Triforce shattered before the Master Sword, and Link launched me into the blast zone in a shower of gold light.

When I returned to the field, dawn had begun to break and the sun rose over the cliffs, warming the plains with its light.

"Time flies, doesn't it?" Pit asked, aiming another light arrow.

"…Time's not the only thing," I said as Bowser spun Link on his shell and hurled him away.

The angel smirked and shot the light projectile, but I donned my silver reflector and bounced it back to Pit,

"Nice try!" In a flash, Pit's mirror shield rebounded his arrow back to me.

With a cry of alarm, I sidestepped the light projectile and it hit Bowser instead.

"HEY!" the Koopa King roared with anger as he flew backward. He was the only one out of all of us who still had two lives, but that would soon change. His damage was so high now, despite his earlier healing, and surely Pit's arrow would render him powerless to recover.

The Koopa fell below the ledge, but then rose up like a rocket and clawed his way back onto the stone battleground.

"Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief, glimpsing the Rocket Belt around Bowser's waist.

The Koopa king stood on the arena's edge and laughed, his red eyes glinting with mockery. He was just asking for a knock-out.

Fuming, I clenched my fists and charged forward to deliver, when a metal chain hooked around my waist and jerked me backwards.

"Link?" I screamed, struggling to break his hold.

Pit, who had grabbed a Back Shield, ran forward to claim what would have been my point. Little did he know that he was running right into Bowser's waiting arms.

Pit swung his twin blades, but before he could land the hit, Bowser grabbed him.

"Aahh! What?" Pit yelped, his eyes wide with shock. The bronze shield wouldn't help him in this situation.

The Koopa smirked, jumped in the air, and backflipped off the ledge with Pit kicking and flailing in his arms.

I struggled against Link's Hookshot, but he held fast and turned me to face him, just as Pit and Bowser fell into the blast zone.

Link's eyes widened, as if he had seen something strange. His grip on my arm loosened, and I wrenched free from his grasp.

Before he could counter, I shot a few energy blasts, knocking him into the dirt.

Link stood and shook his head as if to clear it. Then, he hefted the Master Sword and charged towards me. I shielded against his blade, wondering what was bothering him.

Above me, Bowser leapt from the recovery platform, his twisted grin now spread from ear to ear. He sure looked pleased about something. Sure, he had eliminated Pit from the match, but he had cost himself a life as well. I didn't understand what the big accomplishment was.

The three of us exchanged blows with new desperation as the skies darkened once again. Even though we had one less player now, chaos reigned as the battle exploded around us.

I had just rolled away from one of Link's bombs when five hundred pounds of Koopa came crashing down from above.

"Aahh!" I screamed as Bowser's weight crushed me. The sheer force of his attack sent me flying, and before I knew it, the recovery beam caught me and transported me away from the plains. Just like that, I was out!

"Ugh! Third?" I complained. It was bad enough that I didn't get very many points, but losing to one of my enemies just made it that much worse.

I glared at the screen that displayed the remainder of the match, silently willing Link to triumph over Bowser. I felt Pit's presence to my right, and wondered if he was hoping Link would win, too. After all, Link was one of the fighters Pit idolized, and therefore most wanted to take down, and seeing his hero take revenge on the one who beat him was probably the next best thing.

With a final horizontal spinning slash, Link knocked Bowser out of the area, and both appeared in the room with us. Link slashed his blade in front of him, then held it high with a triumphant battle cry. Beside me, Bowser scowled and clapped for the winner, but something was missing.

Before I could put my finger on it as to what it was, the blue portal appeared, and we transported back to the mansion.

"I can't believe Bowser beat me!" I muttered to Link.

Bowser, who apparently had heard me, smirked. "Well believe it, because it happened!" he said smugly, and pushed past us into the hallway.

"Well, he was in a hurry to leave," I said.

Link nodded in agreement and sheathed his sword.

"So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

The Hylian winced as if he had been burned. Maybe I should have waited before asking…?

Link looked around the room, as if the words he needed were floating in midair. Then, his brow furrowed and he gazed off into space, the dim glow of the portal reflected in his eyes.

The only sound heard was the faint hum of energy, and the silence alerted me to what was wrong.

"Where's Pit?" Link asked, taking the words right out of my mouth.

Confused, I glanced around the room, but Link and I were the only two there. "…Maybe he ran out ahead?" I suggested.

"Hm, maybe…" Link said, but his expression was troubled. He was about to say more when a few pairs of footsteps carried down the hall. We wouldn't have the transport room much longer.

Link leaned closer. "Can't talk now. One of us'll come get you when it's time," he whispered, and hurried out of the room.

I shuffled out into the hallway, puzzling over Link's strange behavior. What did he want to tell me? And why was he being so secretive? The power light in my heart seemed to dim with anxiety, as if it was protecting some secret, too. Whatever this was, it gave me a funny feeling inside. Either way, I couldn't worry about it now… Not when I had another fight to catch.

"I… am… so… tired!" I moaned, slumping down in my seat at the table. My muscles ached, and I was pretty sure I would fall asleep right then and there, despite the chatter of sixty Smashers around me.

"How many fights did you have today?" Ness asked, moving the spaghetti around on his plate.

"Nothing before lunch, but I just got done with four matches, one right after the other."

Shulk grinned. "Well, at least it's better than doing dishes."

"Definitely," I agreed.

Even though Anti-Junior and I still had one more round of dishes to finish, nothing could dampen my spirits at the thought of my most recent battles. Sure, they had been some of the toughest yet, but they turned out pretty good, aside from the first one.

"I have to wonder how everyone's doing in the tournament," Shulk said. "It's strange that we don't get to know our overall scores."

Marth, who sat a few places over, spoke. "It's better not to question it. The hands take their tournaments very seriously."

"I guess." Ness pouted. "I still wanna know if I'm close to winning or not…"

"Don't we all," I said, shaking my head. "I just want to know if-Aahh!"

I shot from my seat as something ice-cold pressed against the back of my neck. Whirling around, I nearly bumped into Anti-Junior, who snickered to himself.

"Gotcha!" he cried triumphantly, setting his plate of food on the table and sitting next to me.

A shiver ran through me. "Was that ice magic?" I asked, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Courtesy of Lucas and the Ice Climbers!" Anti-Junior answered.

"Wow! I didn't even sense your energy!" I laughed.

Anti-Junior grinned. "Yep! I'm that good!" He picked up his fork and began eating.

"I'll get you back for that!" I teased.

My friend's smile widened. "Bring it on!"

"Anti-Junior." Ness looked straight at him. "Don't you think we should be able to know what our ranks in the competition are?"

"Yes!" Anti-Junior cried, slamming his cup down on the table. "I can't take not knowing!"

Marth nodded. "How do you think you faired today?"

"Ugh!" Anti-Junior gave him a 'Don't get me started' look. The group stared at him with curiosity, and I could feel a mini-rant coming on. "Wario! I had to fight Wario!"

"That's my name! Don't ware it out!" the Smasher in question called from his table.

Anti-Junior glared in his direction before turning back to us. "Don't worry. He's just upset because I placed higher than him in our match. But I never want to fight him again!" He lowered his voice further. "I couldn't get close because of the garlic! And all he did was grab! It was annoying!"

"Ugh!" The rest of the table nodded empathetically as Anti-Junior continued.

"I finally beat him by shooting him with a homing blast when Little Mac knocked him off the edge!"

"Nice!" I exclaimed as Ness, Marth, and Shulk nodded approvingly.

"Yeah!" Anti-Junior beamed, momentarily pleased. "…But then Little Mac creamed me."

This sudden news preceded a chorus of 'Aww!' from around the table.

"Little Mac can be quite the challenge," Marth agreed between sips of his drink. "He's quick."

"Not as quick as Sonic," Ness piped up.

"True," Shulk said, "but Sonic doesn't have a one-hit knock out."

We all relayed stories of our best, worst, and weirdest fights. Shulk had just told us about a fight with Corrin, Donkey Kong, and Mr. Game and Watch, when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

Samus stood there in her blue and black jumpsuit. "Hey. Come to the training room after dinner." She said, her voice low and urgent. "You, too." She nodded at Anti-Junior.

"Okay- Oh, we can't right after." I said, wondering what this was even about.

Samus looked slightly annoyed. "Then come when you can!" she hissed. and hurried away with some of the other Smashers who had finished eating.

"…Um, okay?" I said, still trying to make sense of what just happened.

As more and more Smashers left the dining room, Anti-Junior sighed and cleared his empty plate. "Of all nights, they chose tonight to have spaghetti," he grumbled.

"Just be glad this is the last time we have to do this," I said, and followed him into the kitchen.

About two hours and over sixty sets of dishes later, the Miis gave Anti-Junior and me one last send-off, saying things like 'Nice working with you!' and 'Try and stay out of trouble!'. We smiled and nodded and waved goodbye to the Miis, then hurried away to find Samus.

"We're freeee!" I exclaimed as we ran down the hall.

"I know!" Anti-Junior screamed, as if he couldn't be happier.

We slowed to a walk as we neared our destination. "It's weird that Samus wants to train now," Anti-Junior mused.

"Yeah…" I said, remembering what Link told me at the end of our match.

In the training room, Smashers bustled with activity, even at this time of night. Little Mac was delivering speedy jabs to a sandbag, his coach shouting encouragement. Wii Fit trainer led Kirby, Peach, and Mr. Game & Watch in some yoga exercises, though I wondered how the latter could perform most of them since he was only a 2-D being.

"There you are!" Samus bested Captain Falcon with a few quick punches and kicks, then speed-walked towards us. "Come on!" she ordered, and proceeded towards the exit.

"Wait. So we aren't training?" Anti-Junior asked. "What's going on?"

"I'll explain shortly." Samus led us down hallway after hallway to a lower level of the mansion. We kept walking until we came to a secluded area that seemed to be tucked away at the very back of the establishment. Samus paused at an old door, the wood chipped and the paint peeling. After a quick glance around, she opened the room and waved us inside.

The room looked like it could have once been a small library, but had been converted into someone's personal lounge. A round table stood in the middle with a few faded armchairs set in a semi-circle around it. A small TV hung from one wall. On the opposite corner was a dusty bookcase whose books looked like they hadn't been handled in a while.

"Good! You're here!" Link leaned forward in one of the armchairs, his mouth tight with concern. "Were you spotted?"

"No, Link, I know how to do my job." Samus pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Just making sure," Link said, holding up his hands, but his expression stayed firm. "We can't have too many other Smashers finding out until we know more."

"So, what is this place?" I asked.

Samus looked around the room, taking in the scenery as if it were a long-lost friend. "This room has been around since the mansion was first built, when there were only twelve of us in Smash."

"Yeah?" Anti-Junior asked.

Samus nodded. "We'd all come here after battles to rest and get to know each other. But, once the Melee and Brawl tournaments came around, the mansion was renovated to accommodate all the newcomers."

"Why didn't the hands fix this place up?" Anti-Junior asked. "Not that it's that bad, it's just…"

"The hands were so focused on construction that they didn't have enough money to maintain some of the older parts of the mansion," Samus explained. "But Master Hand couldn't bring himself to destroy this place because it's a part of Smash history. Since this room isn't used much anymore, it's a safe place to talk."

By the way she said 'talk', I knew it was serious. "About what?" I asked. Maybe I'd finally get answers as to why Link and Samus were acting so strangely. However, part of me knew I wouldn't like what I heard.

"About the villains," Link said. He picked up the remote and clicked the power button, though he had to hit it against the armchair a few times before it turned on the TV.

While Link flipped through the channels, Samus paced the length of the room. "They're definitely up to something," she muttered.

Why was Link messing with the TV? Were we going to see them on the news? Had they already done something that bad?

Anti-Junior sat down in one of the armchairs and rolled his eyes. "Tell us something we don't know."

Link, who had settled on a channel, set the remote down and faced me. "Did you ever find Pit?" he asked.

"No," I said, somewhat confused, when the image on the TV screen caught my interest. 'Battle Replays: Re-watch all your favorite brawls!"

Link fiddled with the remote some more, his brow furrowed. "I asked around and no one has seen him since our match. He wasn't at his usual spot at dinner, either-"

"Pit has his own dinner spot?" Anti-Junior cut in.

"Yeah," Link said. "It's the seat just to the right of the window. He claimed it since the Brawl tournament started. So he could get a better view of the-"

"Anyway," Samus interrupted. She stopped pacing and turned to Link. "Roy said Pit hadn't come back to their room at all," she informed.

It had only been a few minutes and my head was already spinning. "Wait. Is Pit missing?" A lump of dread formed in my stomach when those words passed my lips.

"Well, we can't be one hundred percent sure, but…" Link pressed 'Play' on one of the video clips. "There's something you should see."

Puzzled, we stared at the small screen and watched as my fight with Pit, Link, and Bowser replayed. At first, the battle played out normally. Cheers and groans suggested that this footage was filmed in the area for spectators, but he audio wasn't good enough to catch the things we said during the match.

"Nice!" Anti-Junior laughed as Pit's deflected arrow struck Bowser.

Link gazed at the screen intensely, as if searching for something.

At that moment, Bowser grabbed Pit and flipped him off the ledge.

Link paused the fight clip. "Look here." He stood and pointed to the screen. The image showed the beam of light that had claimed the angel and the Koopa once they reached the blast zone, but something was wrong.

"There's only one beam," I pointed out.

Link nodded gravely. He took a deep breath. "You'll probably think this is crazy, but I don't think Pit made it through the return portal, the one that transports fighters away once they're eliminated from a match."

"…How's that possible?" I asked. "Did… the blast zone not transport him or something?"

"It is strange," Samus agreed. "The technology has never failed before, in previous tournaments or otherwise. The hands make sure of that."

"It seems unlikely, but that would explain why Pit hasn't been seen since our match," Link said.

"…Where is he then?" Anti-Junior asked. "Could he still be on the plains somewhere?"

Pit was a good fighter, but I shuddered to think about him wandering around Gaur Plains alone. That world was unfamiliar to him. Plus, there could have been more of those metal monsters running around.

I thought about earlier in the match, and came to an unsettling conclusion. Bowser had acted strange then, too. What was it he said to me? 'You have no idea what's about to happen'?

"He knew!" I jolted up from my chair. "If Pit really is missing, the villains are behind it! I know it!"

"How can you be sure it's them?" Anti-Junior asked.

He had a fair point, but I was sure about this one… mostly. I told them what I had figured out, what Bowser said to me, and how he had acted in the transport room both before and after the fight.

Link considered this, then slowly nodded. "They must really want to win this tournament if they're pulling this kind of thing…"

"You're right…" Samus shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"Do other Smashers know that the villains are plotting?" I asked.

Samus turned to me. "A few others know what we've told you, but it's hard to tell very many people without the villains finding out that we're on to them.

"Does Master Hand know?" Anti-Junior asked.

"Don't know," Link answered. "Again, we're not completely sure, but if Pit doesn't turn up tomorrow morning, then we'll tell Master Hand, but until we really know-"

"We can't tell the hands!" Samus interjected, fists clenched. "Not after… recent circumstances."

Now my head was spinning so fast I felt like my brain might get sick. I wanted to ask just what circumstances prevented us telling the hosts of the tournament that something was amiss, but the look in Samus's eyes said that her decision was final.

"Well," Link said, standing up. "We should probably get back before people start wondering where we are-."

Just then, three sharp knocks sounded at the door. Link winced. "Speaking of which…"

Samus strode over to the door and opened it. "Master Hand," she greeted calmly.

"Ah! I thought I heard something back here!" The hand hovered in the doorway for a moment. "What are you doing here?"

How had he known we were back here? The giant hand must have super hearing.

Samus and Link shot each other a cautious glance, then the latter spoke. "We just thought Junior and Anti-Junior would get a kick out of seeing this place," he said carefully.

"…Yes." Master Hand nodded as if he understood, and his voice sounded sincere and somewhat pleasant. "Well, it's almost curfew, and I really don't want to have to punish any of you. Especially since you two-" He pointed at Anti-Junior and me, "just finished yours."

"We were just leaving," Samus said, and we filed out of the old room, hoping not to incur the hand's wrath.

Anti-Junior and I made our way to our room in silence, but now things felt all turned around, as if a giant puzzle piece in the universe had been flipped, messing up the entire thing. Believe me. I didn't want Pit to be missing, but the more I considered Link and Samus's revelations, the more likely it seemed.

I remembered what Ike had said to me earlier that day. 'Some people would do anything to win this tournament'. Could Pit's disappearance be part of Bowser's or Dedede's twisted scheme to boost their standing in the competition? Or was it something more?

And that dark feeling on the plains. What was that about? At first, I thought it could have been Bowser's evil, but now I wasn't so sure. Whatever it was, it gave me the creeps. I couldn't believe I forgot to tell Link and Samus about that!

My friend and I entered our room and I collapsed onto my bed. After what Link and Samus told us, sleep seemed impossible, despite the exhaustion of today's fights.

"Junior?"

"Hm?" I sat up and looked at Anti-Junior, who yawned.

Whatever he was going to say, he seemed to have lost the will. "Never mind… I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Oh… Okay…" I said, too tired to argue. I sank back onto my pillows, hoping I'd at least get a little rest, and to my surprise, sleep overpowered me without much resistance.

But then I had the dream, and then I heard the scream, and realized this was the beginning of a waking nightmare.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. This chapter was a little rushed, so I apologize for any mistakes. Feel free to point them out, especially with descriptions, if I got them wrong so that I can fix them. Hopefully there aren't too many...**


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